Mermaid Princess of Hearts
by zarmag
Summary: In "The World That Never Was" Organization XIII are seeking to captured the seven mermaid princesses for the sake of the completion of Kingdom Hearts. But Three members deserted the Organization are trying prevent them from capturing the seven mermaid princesses [Note: I create my own version of Organization XIII]
1. Chapter 1 First Encounter

Chapter 1 – First Encounter

_Flashback – In The World That Never Was_

"You two should go to America and find a wizard name Clarabell Mcdowel". A Seventeen year old Teen. A male with 175cm Height, with short black hair seemed to fan out going down from the boy's head, and heterochromic eyes where his right eye is red and his left eye is violet. Wearing Black Coat as member of Organization XIII and underneath mostly all black, with black jeans, t- Shirt, lengthy black gloves, and knee high silver trimmed boots.

The Teen was standing in front of the alley, where the Identical twins, a Eleven year old boy, with red hair is pulled into a single, high ponytail with two shoulder-length bangs on both sides of his face with blue eyes. He was wearing black coat the same as the teen and underneath it consists of a sleeveless dark blue shirt with golden markings. He also wears lengthy black gloves, black pants with a dark blue belt and black sneakers . And the ten year old girl, with red hair is done up in two high ponytails on either side of her head with two shoulder-length bangs on both sides of her face with blue eyes. Wearing the same black coat like her twin and underneath consisting of a long-sleeved red shirt with golden markings. She also wears black jeans with a red belt, lengthy black gloves, and black sneakers. The older twin replied."Okay, are you sure this person can help us Xaitts."

"Yes, she is the only person who knows the organizations plans, and also she is a powerful wizard". The Teen now known as Xaitts said. The older twin, Xelon, replied to him."I see, but where are you going now, don't tell me you're going find the seven mermaid princesses alone that will take too long." The younger twin Xolla continue after her brother. "Yeah, you should know that mermaids live in the sea, plus you can't breathe underwater and also you can't protect them alone so we should do this-."

"No, I should do this alone and you should know that I'm strong, fast and always good at solo missions unlike you two." Xaitts with a sarcastic tone, cutting them off. The twins grew concerned for that and Xolla said, "But Mermaids live in the-."

"Oh I forgot something." Xaitts said and show something on his neck that reveals it's a necklace with a Nobody' emblem and then he explain." This necklace will help me breath underwater. This was made in the organization if there are missions that involves underwater." While explaining he grab something in his pocket and gave it to each of the twins which reveals it's the same necklace he has wearing and said "Here, ones you finish your business in America you can join me in fishing hehe."

Xelon looking at the necklace that Xaitts gave him he began question. "Did you just Steal it?"Xaitts replied sarcastically."No I Just grab it." Xelon sigh.

Xolla began to question Xaitts. " Xaitts are you sure tagging along with us?" Xaitts look at Xolla with a worried expression and she said. "Me and Xelon left out of our own free will and we know those who deserted the organization will be destroyed". After finishing the sentence there was silence in the air.

Xelon continue with a sad expression."Now that we left organization ones they find us they will destroy me, Xolla and you included-.

"Yeah, yeah, I already know that and I don't care." Xaitts replied, cutting them off and look at them and said. "We all ready know the way things turn out in the organization." The Twins knows what he meant then he said. "At first the reason why we Thirteen Nobodies gathered here is to form the great Kingdom Hearts and to be whole again and along the way things didn't turn out what we expect." The twins look at him with a gloomy expression knowing what he meant.

"Even though we are Nobodies who don't have hearts we still have our memories when we were human and we know what's right and wrong." Xaitts telling the twins with eyes filled with determination. Then he said. "Let's go before they catch us." Raising his left hand and summon a corridor of darkness and so thus Xelon summon his.

Before Xaitts enters the portal he said to the twins. "If we manage to survive, let's hangout and eat sea salt ice cream like we always do" telling them with a smile. The twins replied happily together."YEAH!"

They went to their respective destinations.

* * *

Present time – a beach city Forest

"It has been 2 weeks and I still can't find any of them". Xaitts whispered to himself.

Xaitts was walking in the forest near the nearby beach trying to figure out the location of the 7 mermaid princesses. The reason for this is to protect them from Organization XIII but with no luck the only thing left now is the sea.

'Maybe I should try the Sea.' he thought of himself."Kyaa!"He hears a girl screaming.

Xaitts rush with his hood on to the beach where he saw a girl about 14 years of age with long, has dark purple hair with ringlets and pale skin as well as medium brown eyes, and wears a necklace around her neck carrying a purple shell and wearing civilian attire. "What are these black things are they water demons?!" The Girl looked at the Eight black creatures surrounding her. Xaitts widened his eyes and said."Those are Heartless." Knowing those creatures he thought of saving the girl but.

"Purple Pearl Voice" The Girl shouts suddenly then a bright light surrounding her body. Then the light formed a barrier surrounding the girl and appearance change, her attire is a white short strapless dress with black purple ruffles down the one side and it is above knee length with purple trim at top. Her bow is the same color as her hair, but in a darker shade. Her gloves are white with purple cuffs that extend to her mid arm and her high-heeled boots have the same colors. She has a purple seashell barrette in her hair.

Then she shout "Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start".

Asahi ga ureshikute Omowazu namida ga deru..

Dokoka de miteru ka na? Onnaji sora dakara tsudzuiteru

Yume wa mada, yume demo (Let's stay ima anata ga) Iru basho o shinjite

Xaitts was surprised when she start singing in this situation. 'What the heck is she doing!' As he was dumbfounded he notices that the Heartless are shaking like they were in pain.

OORORA no kaze ni notte "my wish" todoiteru? Mukae ni yuku yo datte zettai aitai yo Juujisei no shita ima wa Two Life hanaretatte Kokoro wa hitotsu Onaji One Wish dakishimete

Doushite betsubetsu no Unmei tadoru ndarou?

Yabureta "toki" no chizu Nakushite hajimatta hontou no tabi

As he watched the girl singing and the heartless shaking in pain he remembered something. 'Ah that's right I remember something during investigation about mermaids aside from magical weapons that can hurt and destroy heartless there is also the singing of mermaid princesses that can do the same to heartless.' As he looked at the girl then he thought. 'Then that means that girl's identity is a mermaid princess.' Finally figure out the situation he continue to observed.

Mayottari naitari (Let's Kiss! Ima jibun o) Hagemashite ageyou

Kagayaku umi ni kitto "my faith" nemutteru Murasaki no kaze fuite "Love Song" kikoetara Mangetsu no yoru ni.. kitto Two Heart utau deshou Chiisa na kandou. Dakedo.. SUPESHARU na kimochi!

Yume wa mada, yume demo (Let's stay ima anata ga) Iru basho o shinjite

OORORA no kaze ni notte "my wish" todoiteru? Mukae ni yuku yo datte zettai aitai yo Juujisei no shita ima wa Two Life hanaretatte Kokoro wa hitotsu Onaji One Wish dakishimete

OORORA no kaze ni notte "my wish" todoiteru? Hanareta koto mo itsuka zettai "yokatta" tte.. Otona ni naru tame kitto Two Life tabi ni deta Meguriau mono.. minna Taisetsu ni shiyou!

As she finished singing the heartless vanish. "I don't know what are those strange black creatures are but at least I'm saved." The Girl said to herself then suddenly another strange creature appeared this time and there are four of them."What Now!" The Girl shouted out of frustration.

Xaitts notices those four creatures in shock. "Oh know those are Dusks!"

The Girl said with confidence. "Alright then Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start "

Asahi ga ureshikute Omowazu namida ga deru..

Dokoka de miteru ka na? Onnaji sora dakara tsudzuiteru

Yume wa mada, yume demo (Let's stay ima anata ga) Iru basho o shinjite

As he watched her singing again he noticed that the Dusks seem okay. 'As expected even though her singing is effective to heartless but for us Nobodies not so much since we lack of hearts and emotions.' Then one of the Dusk try to attack her but thanks to the light barrier she was protected for now.

"What are these things there not the same as those black ones." She said with a complex expression. The Dusks began attacking together by pummeling the barrier and began to crack little by little. The girl panics. 'What should I do my singing isn't effected against this things. What should I do….please Onee-sama help.' Trying to plead for help in her thoughts as the barrier broken she closed her eyes.

"Aero" suddenly a strong wind blow the four dusks pushing them away from the girl. The Dusks are nearly at the sea water. The Girl Open her eyes she saw a person in Black Coat in front of her. As she stare at the person who's face is hooded. He said with a deeper voice. "Are you alright?" The girl just nodded. "Good" he replied.

Xaitts materialized his weapon Xatana a 90cm black blade, hilt, and tsuba with a Nobody Emblem is engraved near the scabbard mouth. The crossguard has four prongs bent out to form the shape of the manji . In a blink of an eye he charged forward to the four dusk with amazing speed so fast that no one could keep up with his speed. In an instant he slashed the four dusks in pieces then vanish.

The girl was in awe. She saw the hooded black coat person finish the four strange creatures in an instant. "Who are you?" The girl asked a bit confused by what's going on. Then he replied."If we meet again, I'll try to explain to you then, but you need to get out of here before more those things will appear."Then a corridor of darkness appeared and engulfed Xaitts, making him vanish."Wait!" The girl tried to stop him but he disappeared. 'Who was that?' the girl just wonder what happen.

* * *

As Xaitts teleport himself in the forest. "Now I know that girl is one of the mermaid princesses that only leaves six." Saying to himself. Suddenly a bright light appeared in front of him.

Then the light form into a woman has body length blond hair and blue eyes. She wears a light blue crown, blue jewelry with red gems, and a see-through shawl with her big puffy white dress. She has her staff with her, which has a big blue gem with wings on the top and wrapped with green vines and leaves.

As Xaitts stare at the women then she says. "Thank you for protecting one of the mermaid princesses." As she say with a thankful expression. Xaitts replied. "…your welcome." Then he add question. "But who are you?"

The woman answered."I am Aqua Regina." Xaitts surprised knowing who she is. "Aqua Regina the Sea Goddess!"

Aqua Regina replied. "Yes but I need your help." As she said he wanted help. Then Xaitts said. "help, why you need request help from a nobody like me?".

She answered with a smiled."Even though you wield the power of darkness but I can tell that your intention is to protect the mermaid princesses". Then he replied with light manner tone. "If that's the sea goddess want then I'll do it since that is my intention to begin with."

As the sea goddess smiled at his answer then she question him. "What is your name?" Then he replied. "Xaitts"

"No I mean your real name". Cutting him off, he sigh and decided to remove his hood to show his face in front of her and answered. "Attis Hale"


	2. Chapter 2 Surfing and Reunion

Chapter 2 Surfing and Reunion

_Beach City in Japan_

"….hmmm. I wonder where the other mermaid princesses are?" Attis whispered to himself

Attis was walking along a road near the nearby beach while wearing Black T-shirt , Blue Jeans and sports shoes thinking to himself. The reason for this is because of what happened three days ago.

Three Days ago after he saved one of the mermaid princesses the Sea Goddess appeared in front of him and requesting for his help. She told him that the mermaid princesses will faced many difficult adversaries and requested him to protect them.

Now he was wandering around a seaside town. He just passed a place called Pearl Piari, when he looked at the sea water and thought, 'I wonder how those twins are doing in America? I don't have any way of contacting them. I just hope that whimsical wizard didn't drag them to her idiocy.'

Attis sigh then someone bumped into him, sending the both of them falling to the floor. He rubbed his head and said, "Ow, sorry about that."

"Nah, it's okay." A male voice replied. Attis got up and saw that it was a male surfer a few years younger than him, with his hair is orange-brown a little red and spiky and he has brown eyes. He was in a surfing suit and had a surfboard with him as well. The guy got up and said, "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention back there."

"I guess that makes two of us." Attis said. Then he held out his hand and said, "I'm Attis Hale, what's your name?" Attis tells his real name when he was human instead of his nobody name Xaitts.

The guy replied, "Kaito Doumoto, it's nice to meet you Attis." The two shook hands and Attis said, "Well, I guess I'll see you around Doumoto-san."

"Please, call me Kaito. Being called that by someone around my age just sounds weird." Kaito told him. Attis nodded and said, "Then call me Attis. I'm not much for formalities myself unless they're necessary."

Kaito nodded and asked, "Do you live around here Attis?" Attis thought about it for a bit before he replied, "I just move in. I just came out here exploring and getting acquainted the neighborhood."

"I see…." Kaito said. Then he took off saying, "Well, it was nice meet Attis! I'll see you later!"

"Yeah, see you later." Attis replied as Kaito took off. He thought to himself, 'He sure is nice.' That's when Kaito suddenly called him from behind and shouted, "You should come back here tomorrow! There's surfing competition that's going to take place!"

Attis thought about it and then shouted back, "Sure I'll be here!" Kaito nodded and continued to run off to the beach. Attis seemed to agree at the thought of watching the surfing competition, and decided to stare at the ocean for a while, He thought himself 'It's been a while using my real name when I was human instead of the name given to me in the organization.' As he continued to stare the sea he remembered his time when he was human before the darkness swallowed him and become a nobody then join the organization.

About fifteen minutes of just standing there, lost in his thoughts, he heard a voice say, "Um, excuse me, are you alright?"

Attis snapped out of it and turned around to the voice. What he saw was a young girl with shoulder-length dirty blond hair and brown eyes, wearing a red and white t-shirt, a jean skirt, and leathers boots looking at him. Beside her was a penguin in some kind of sailor clothing along with a hat. He raised an eyebrow at that as Attis replied, "Oh, I'm fine. I was just lost in thought, nothing to worry about."

"Oh, I see. Sorry to bother you." The girl said, and she ran off with the penguin behind her before Attis could say anything. One thing he did notice was the shell necklace that was on the girl's neck and thought, 'Hmm, I wonder, could she be related to the Mermaid Princesses? I did hear that they wore shell necklaces that held their pearls, Now that I mention it the girl I saved three days ago have the same shell necklace but with a different color. Hmm I guess I'll find out sooner or later.'

Attis walked away from the beach and decided to head back to his apartment. Attis was lucky that he had a lot of money on him before leaving the organization, which he was able to rent an apartment for the time being, which was only yesterday. The only thing he had to worry about now was getting a job to support himself.

Attis decided to lie in bed. He wondered about the surfing competition, as well as the two people that he met earlier. Attis thoughts occupied his mind for a while, before he finally fell into slumber, with his last thoughts were, 'How did something like this happen?'

* * *

The next day Attis was in lighter wear, still wearing black jeans but sporting a loose red t-shirt. He walked towards the beach and he saw Kaito heading towards the steps down to the beach. Kaito saw him and said, "Hey Attis, glad you could make it!"

Attis nodded and said, "So, this is the surfing competition huh? It's bigger than I thought." Kaito told him, "Nah, compared to others, this one is pretty small." The two of them walk down the stairs as Attis said, "So, anything special that I should watch out for?"

"Yeah, when I blow the competition away!" Kaito replied with confidence. Attis just smirked at that when he heard a voice say, "How about we play around after the competition?"

The two turned to see two guys harassing a pair of girls, one of the which Attis recognized as the girl he met last night while staring out at the ocean. Kaito immediately walked towards them, with Attis walking behind, noticing the small scowl on Kaito's face.

When one of the guy's put his hand on the girl with the dirty blond hair, Kaito instantly twisted the guy's other arm back, forcing him to let go. Attis looked on with interest as the guy's friend said, "It's last year's champion!" The two of them looked extremely sheepish as the guy said, "They're with you? Sorry!" Thet walked off making Attis smile a bit at how Kaito handled the whole thing.

That's when Kaito winked at the girl with the dirty blond hair and said, "Those look pretty cute, though I like racy ones more!" At that Attis couldn't help but stifle a laugh, making it sound like a cough. That's when the dirty-blond haired girl saw him and said, "Ah! You're that guy that was staring out at the ocean last night!"

The girl with the blue hair beside her raised an eyebrown, while Kaito asked, "You know each other Attis?"

Attis answered that by saying, "Not exactly, she went up to me while I was looking at the ocean last night." The girl got embarrassed at the memory as Attis held out his hand and said, "My name's Attis Hale, but you can call me Attis. I'm not fond of formalities."

The girl with the dirty-blond hair shook his hand and said, "I'm Lucia Nanami, it's a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Lucia." The girl with blue hair shook his hand also saying, "My name is Hanon Hoshou, and you can call me Hanon. It's nice to meet you Attis-san."

Suddenly the four of them heard an announcement that called all of the surfing participants, and Kaito winked at Lucia and said, "Then, I'll let you see a cool show!" He turned to Attis and said, "I'll see you later Attis."

Attis just waved while Lucia and Hanon talked to themselves. They said something but he didn't pay any attention to it as he take a look at the ocean. As he turned to face the girls, Hanon couldn't help but think, 'He's quite cute.'

That's when Hanon asked, "Um, Attis-san, how do you know Kaito-kun?" Attis focused his attention on her and replied, "The two of us met when we practically bumped into each other around here last night. He invited me to come and watch."

Lucia raised an eyebrow at that while Attis asked, "What about the two of you?" Hanon answered that in reply, "We're his classmates, and she has a thing for Kaito-kun." Nodded her head to Lucia, who said, "I do not!"

Attis found the scene a bit amusing when they heard the announcer proclaim the start of the competition. Everyone around went quit and turned to the ocean to watch the surfers. Even though Attis knew the sport, he found it quite interesting to watch people surf when it wasn't on a screen.

Sometime later it was Kaito's turn to surf, which left an impression on Lucia as Kaito rode the waves. Attis however, noticed that Kaito was wearing something around his neck and squinted his eyes to look at it. He whispered, "What is…that…? Something…pink?"

Hanon overhear Xaitts and asked, "Something wrong Attis-san?"

Attis shook his head and replied, "No, it's nothing." Then he noticed Lucia looked like she was in a trance and whispered, "Lucia-san looks like she's in a trance, doesn't she?" Hanon looked over to Lucia and giggled saying, "Yes, she does, doesn't she?"

That's when Lucia shouted, "Awesome!" Hanon agreed with her saying, "As I expected…he's pretty cool!" Attis just smiled when he suddenly felt a wave of odd energy come from Kaito's direction.

Hanon noticed something else and said, "That wave…!" Suddenly a second wave appeared from behind Kaito and sent him under. Lucia was shocked and shouted, "Kaito!"

Attis was also shocked as he heard the announcer say, "He didn't come back up…" Then the announcer proceeded to call the rescue as Attis felt that something was very wrong. All of a sudden, storm clouds had suddenly come in and the ocean started to get rough very fast, which made the announcer tell everyone to take shelter from the storm.

The three of them were standing there when Attis noticed something small and black move through the trees that were nearby. On instinct, he ran towards it, making Hanon shout, "Attis-san?!" A moment later, Lucia ran forward towards the ocean, and Hanon tried to stop her, but the wind prevented her from stopping her.

As Attis reached the small patch of forest that was near the ocean, he saw that Heartless jumping into the ocean and thought, 'Heartless, I knew that this storm wasn't a coincidence, but I don't think they're the reason for it though.' He shook his head and focused on materializing two things into his hands. One was a Black Coat. It is imbued with magic that protection and it added property that allowed him to swim through the water like he was flying on air. The other is his main weapon Xatana.

Quickly putting on the Black Coat, Attis rush towards one of the heartless, a shadow, and slice it in half then vanished.

A few minutes later, Attis managed to disperse all the heartless that attacked. He ran to the ocean and jumped into it. After getting over the initial shock of the strange feeling of 'flying' in the water, he heard a melody of a song. He said, "Could it be one of the mermaid princesses?" However, he didn't have time to think about it when a few soldiers, having webbed hands and feet, came at him and Attis retaliated with a few Blizzard spells.

But when Attis heard the melody, just as he saw a group of Heartless Soldiers swim off to a certain direction. He inwardly spat and swam after them, thinking, 'If I remember correctly, the Heartless are attracted to the Mermaid Princesses when they release the power of their pearls. Like a beacon of sorts, I guess.'

Meanwhile, Lucia turned back into her mermaid form, where she had long, blond hair that was in two pigtail and blue eyes, along with a pink mermaid tail. She managed to grab Kaito, when the Heartless group showed up. She was shocked to see them and said, "What? What the heck are these things?!"

One of the Soldiers tried to swipe at Lucia and she barely managed to dodge it. She thought, 'I need to turn back into my Idol form again!' The Soldiers weren't giving her any chances as Lucia kept trying to dodge attack after attack while trying to protect Kaito. One of the Soldiers managed to get in front of her and she instinctively protected him, 'I'm sorry Kaito…'

That's when a Blizzard spell, in the form of an ice javelin, pierce the Heartless that was about to attack, causing it to disperse and release its heart. The Soldiers were stunned and Lucia opened her eyes to see Attis, hooded not revealing his face, holding his xatana in his right hand. She asked, "W-who are you?!"

Attis, meanwhile took in her features, and instantly notice her shell necklace thinking, 'No way, is that Lucia-san? So she's a Mermaid Princess huh? Looks quite different from her human form in some aspects but the report did say something about it.'

One of the soldiers snapped out of it and tried to attack Lucia again, but Attis managed to reach her in time and slice the solder in half with one swing. He said in a deeper voice that she couldn't recognized, "Take the boy and get away, I'll handle this."

"B-but, who are you?" Lucia asked, a bit confused by what's going on. Attis sighed fired off another Blizzard spell at a couple of Soldiers that tried to attack and replied, "If we meet again, I'll try to explain to you then. But you need to get out of here now!"

Lucia immediately nodded at that quickly swam off towards the surface. The Heartless tried to go after her but Attis cut them off with a few Blizzard spells saying, "Your opponent's right here!"

The Soldiers immediately turned their attention to Attis and the fight went on as Attis used a mixture of sword strikes and magic. Even though he can move in Godlike speed he found out that fighting underwater was a bit difficult but eventually won out against the soldiers. With all of them dispersed, Attis cast a Cure spell on himself and teleported using the corridor of darkness back on land.

Attis was back in land, he was thankful that the cloak had other property of drying off every part of his body when he was on land. Looking around, he saw Lucia and Kaito together at the nearby beach, and quickly went into the nearby bushes to hide.

Peeping wasn't something Attis is very fond of, but he was curious about why the two were together and Lucia was still in her mermaid form. As he watched the scene and thought. 'It seems that they have a connection in the past….hmm how romantic they have their wonderful reunion.' With a smile on his face, until he saw Lucia's penguin and Hanon standing on top of few rocks some distance away. Attis saw that Hanon had something in her hand and squinted to see what it was. He couldn't see what it was though but judging by the lack of surprised on Hanon's face, Attis figure that she was either a mermaid, or a human that knew about mermaids.

With finding hiding in the bushes starting to get boring and a bit painful, Attis made his way out of the bushes and back to the city, trying to move quietly as possible. However, his departure wasn't completely unnoticed as Hanon saw the back of his hood before it vanished into the forest. She thought, 'What was that?' That's when Hippo asked, "Is something wrong Hanon-san?"

Hanon shook her head and replied, "No, nothing's wrong…"

Attis managed to change and make his coat and Xatana disappear before appearing out of the open and headed back to his apartment. He thought to himself, 'At least I know where two of the mermaid princesses are. But the other Mermaid Princesses that I saved three days ago not so much and plus I don't know her name. From what I can recall, there are seven in total, so where are the others? And the Heartless too, something's up with them…'

Attis shook his head and made his way back to his apartment. That's when a sudden thought came to him, 'Oh no! I need to find a job to support my rent!' This left him quite startled as he continue to walk.


	3. Chapter 3 Familiar Presence

Chapter 3 Familiar Presence

_Pearl Piari- Lucia's room_

After the whole encounter, Lucia had told Hippo, her penguin, and Nikora, a mermaid posing as Lucia's older sister, what had happened to her earlier. She was quite surprised to find that Hanon was a Mermaid Princess when Hippo told her. That's when she went on with her story and said, "Anyway, when the person that held Kaito captive had disappeared, these strange black creatures came after me and tried to attack us. Then this person in a hooded black coat appeared and saved me and Kaito, using a black sword."

After hearing her story both Hippo and Nikora looked at each other for a moment before hippo asked, "Lucia, Those black creatures. What are they looked like?"

Lucia thought about it for a second, before she replied, "Well they were black with yellow eyes. Why, is something the matter?"

That's when Nikora got up and said, "Lucia, I thought it would be a bit too early to tell you this, but with what's been happening…" Lucia was a bit confused and asked, "What is it?"

Nikora turned to the window and looked out to the sea as she replied, "Lately, there's been one calamity after another hitting the the Mermaid Kingdoms…" Lucia tried to understand what Nikora was telling her but she said, "Calamity?"

A nod came from Nikora as she went on, "Like the storm when you came to the surface, and that incident at the surfing competition…" Hippo added to that, "And Hanon-san appearing too, right?"

"…I guess so." Nikora said. She turned to Lucia and told her, "Although I don't know the details now, we seemed to have lost contact with most of the Mermaid Kingdoms…" Lucia was a bit shocked at that as Nikora said, "That's why you, and the other Mermaid Princesses, must call out for Aqua Regina-sama, the goddess of the seas."

Lucia found the information a bit hard to take in as she said, "Hanon and I have to…call Aqua Regina-sama" Then she went on to say, "But what about those black creatures and that hooded black coated person?"

Nikora gave a sigh and asked, "Lucia, do you remember the story of what happened ten years ago?" Lucia thought about it for a moment, and it came back to her and she said, "Oh, I remember! It's one of the stories that I liked! If I remember, Aqua Regina-sama and the previous Mermaid Princesses defeated a great evil! I can't remember all the details but I found that story to be really interesting!"

Hippo then told her, "Lucia, those black creatures are called Heartless and they are worst than water demons!" Lucia eyes widened as Hippo went on, "From what I could remember the story, Those Dark Entities called Heartless are beings of darkness, born from the darkness of people's hearts. But Aqua Regina-sama together with the previous seven mermaid princesses defeated those strange creatures."

Lucia asked, "How Aqua Regina-sama and the previous mermaid princesses defeat those creatures?" Hippo shook his head and replied, "I don't know that's all I remember." Hippo question Lucia. "But, Lucia the black coat person that saved you what does he looked like?"

Lucia remembered the person that saved her and Kaito then she replied with a sigh. "He wears a black coat and his face is well hidden by the hood of his coat so I can't see what he looks like and also he wears black cloves and boots." Hippo sigh and replied. "Nevertheless, the person that saved you from the Heartless is most likely our ally."

Lucia just nodded as Nikora said, "Well, all we can do is make sure that we keep an eye out for future threats. Good night Lucia."

Nikora walked over to the door, as Lucia replied, "Good night Onee-chan." Nikora gave out a smile and left the room, with Hippo following behind her. Lucia went over to her bed and sat down on it, thinking of everything that happened before she went to sleep.

* * *

_Beachside- Road_

The next day, Attis was going around town, looking for places to work. He wasn't having much luck with it though, and he was now walking down the road that was beside the ocean. He sighed and thought, 'Damn, didn't think it would be that difficult…'

That's when Attis saw a nearby shop on the beach up ahead and saw that it was open. Looking at it for a bit, he said himself, "Well, might as well go in for a break."

Attis walked over and went into the shop, and took in the details. It looked like a rest spot on the beach that looked like a mixture of a seaside restaurant and a bar. The place had a quaint feel that seemed to make Attis feel better.

After looking around a bit he decided to sit at the bar, and the person standing there asked, "What would you like?" Attis looked at the menu above and replied, "A…mango smoothie, I guess."

"Coming right up." The man replied, starting to prepare the drink. Attis just stared off into space as the smoothie was prepared and brought to Attis, with the man saying, "Here you go." Then he noticed Attis just staring off into space and the man asked, "Are you alright sir?"

"Eh?" Attis snapped out of it and replied, "Oh, yes I'm fine, just having some troubles, that's all. Thank you very much, uh…?"

The man smiled and said, "You can call me Maki. I run this whole seaside restaurant." Attis smiled back at him and said, "I'm Attis Hale, but just Attis is just fine Thank you for the drink Maki-san."

As Attis drunk the smoothie through the straw Maki looked at him and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what troubles are you having Attis-san?" Attis stopped drinking the smoothie and replied, "Oh, it's nothing much, just having trouble finding a job, that's all. It's taking most of the day too…"

While Attis went back to drinking his smoothie, Maki was busy looking at him with a judging look on his face. Then he asked, "Attis-san, how old are you?"

"Um…I'm seventeen…" Attis replied, pulling away from his smoothie. Then Maki asked another question, "You're not in school right now, are you?" Attis' answer was, "No, I'm not…"

That's when Maki looked him in the eye and asked him, "Well, how about you work here? Full-time even." Attis was caught off guard by the proposition and asked, "A-are you sure about this Maki-san? I mean, we only just met…"

Maki smiled at Attis and said, "I happen to be a good judge of character, and you look like you were in trouble. Not to mention that my last waiter had to quit due to moving issues." A grateful smile formed on Attis' face as he said, "Thank you very much Maki-san. When do I start?"

"Tomorrow, so be here around ten, that's when the place opens." Maki told him. Attis finished with his smoothie and paid for it. He got up and before he left Attis said, "Again, thank you very much Maki-san, you don't know how much this means to me."

Maki just smiled as he watched Attis leave the restaurant. Outside Attis sighed a breath of relief and thought, 'At least I', financially stable for now… how lucky, I think.' Attis walked away from the restaurant feeling a bit at ease.

A few minutes later, Attis ran into Kaito with him shouting, "Hey, Kaito!" Kaito turned around to see Attis walking up to him. Kaito said, "Oh, Attis! Glad to see that youre alright!"

"I can say the same for you! When I tried to come back to the beach after that freak storm, I couldn't find you, Lucia-san, or Hanon-san." Attis told him. Kaito assured him, "Don't worry about them, they're fine. I saw them at school earlier."

Suddenly, a thought came to Kaito and he asked, "Attis, are you going to the festival tonight?"

A confused look formed on Attis' face as he asked, "Festival?" From the tone Kaito heard, Attis didn't know about it, so he explained, "There's a festival going on tonight at the nearby park. You should go since from the look had on your face earlier looked like you were stressed."

Attis thought about it for a moment before he replied, "Hmm, I guess I should. Thanks for telling me Kaito." Kaito just nodded and replied, "No problem Attis."

With that, Kaito nodded at him and walked off with a wave, leaving Attis by himself. He was standing there thinking, 'I guess I should check it out. There's no harm in it, from what I can see, and the Heartless don't seem to be making any moves at the moment so does the organization. Let's just hope the night goes smoothly.'

* * *

_Evening – festival_

Later that night, Attis managed to find the place where the festival was taking place. He toured the various stands, trying out a few things here and there. As Attis moved on he thought to himself, 'It's been a while since I've seen a festival like this one.'

Attis started to space out in thought then suddenly he detects a strong presence that he is very familiar with. 'This overwhelming presence….It can't…..there is no doubt it's the Superior! ' Knowing the presence the Superior means trouble.

He started walking around the festival thinking. 'Why would he be here? Does he know the location of the Mermaid Princesses?' Trying to figure out by looking around but there were too many people attending the festival. He thought, 'Damn, with this crowd I can't see anything. I need to concentrate of detecting him and fast or else many innocent people will be in danger.'

Attis began to close his eyes and try to detect the strong presence. In the Organization aside from his speed, swordsmanship, and magic he is also good at detecting the presence of living things by reading there Qi and also figuring out which presence belong to. As he open his eyes and said. 'He's right behind me! ' He turned around that's when he walked right into someone, making him fall back a bit. He managed to stay standing and saw that he ran into a man wearing a tan colored shirt and jeans, who happened to fall back. Attis held out his hand to the man saying, "I'm so sorry about that sir."

"It's alright." The man replied, grabbing Attis' hand and Attis pulled him back to his feet. Taking a better look at the man, Attis saw that he had short dark brown hair with matching eyes and thought, 'He looks normal but his Qi is similar to the Superior.' Attis apologize again and said, "I'm really sorry about that sir, I was trying find someone."

The man dusted himself off as he said, "Don't worry about it." As the two came eye to eye Attis held out his hand and said, "I'm Attis Hale by the way, but you can just call me Attis. What about you?"

"Taro Mitsuki, it's a pleasure to meet you Attis-san." Taro replied, shaking Attis' hand. Then he said, "I need to get going it was nice meeting you Attis-san."

"You too Mitsuki-san." Attis said, as he watched Taro walk away into the crowd. Attis went on thinking, 'He looks normal but why his presence and life force is similar to the Superior?…..hmm, guess I'll just observed him for now or wait things to happen.'

A few minutes later, Attis managed to finish looking around the place. He felt a bit tired, but at the same time, felt a bit better for some reason. As Attis sat down on a nearby bench, he remembered seeing Hanon earlier but she ran off before Attis could call out to her. He didn't mind, but took a note of the shell necklace that was around her neck, which looked like Lucia's but it was an Aqua color instead. Attis thought, 'Well, I guess Hanon's a Mermaid Princess too, since the report said that those shells were one-of-a-kind.'

Suddenly Attis saw Kaito and Lucia running, which made him whisper to himself, "What's with those two?" All of a sudden, he had a bad feeling which made him get up quickly. Out of the corner of his eyes, Attis thought he saw something move slowly, following Kaito and Lucia. Quitly, he managed to slip into the trees without anyone noticing him.

After putting on his coat, Attis tracked down the thing that was following the two and recognized it as a Shadow. He quickly materialized Xatana and slashed the first shadow in half. The second Shadow caught his attention and made it turn around and form itself. Before it had the chance to attack however, Attis quickly sliced it in half, making it dissipate like smoke just like the first shadow. He thought to himself, 'I don't see any other Heartless… Well, might as well trail the two to make sure nothing else happens.'

Attis quietly followed the trail that Kaito and Lucia ran on until he saw the two standing together looking at the ocean. He quietly hid himself as he listened to the conversation between them.

When Kaito started to ask about Lucia's necklace, he couldn't help but think, 'Man, those things sure make it obvious, doesn't it?' All of a sudden, Lucia started to sing what Attis recognized the song she sang yesterday, but with Lucia all nervous and flustered, the song didn't sound quite good. Knowing how it was probably going to end, Attis quickly withdrew from the scene and made his way back to the festival grounds. Attis commented with a sigh, "Watching that scene it's like watching a slow progress love comedy."

Took off his hood, Attis thought, 'Seven Mermaid Princesses… They are vital to the Organization XIII's goal... And I will not let that happen.' All of a sudden he detected a wave of energy. Attis looked around until his eyes fell upon the ocean and said, "From the ocean? Just like yesterday."

Attis put on his hood and made his way to the ocean and dive in. By the time he reached the source, he already saw that Lucia was in her idol form, but the mermaid he recognized as Hanon, who had longer, lighter blue wavy hair and blue eyes was held by seaweed. In between them Attis saw a woman with black wings, long brown dreadlocks for hair with a bandana over it, and had yellow eyes. Wearing a black tank top with a matching skirt, he thought, 'Must be a water demon. I'll just observe for now.'

Deciding to let Lucia handle everything, Attis went over and hid himself in a bundle of seaweed, 'I'll jump in if things really get out of hand.'

Attis watched as Lucia started to sing a song called Legend of Mermaid just like yesterday, it wasn't affecting Eriru, the water demon's name Attis managed to hear, and she started firing jet blasts at Lucia. Attis almost considered going in there helping here when he saw Hanon reach for Eriru's bandana and yank it off, which also made her lose her control over the seaweed, freeing Hanon.

Continuing to watch, Attis saw Hanon transform into her idol form and join Lucia in a duet singing Legend of Mermaid. Watching, he saw Eriru spin around in pain, which he found a bit odd. He thought to himself, 'Seeing it first hand, it looks weird.' That's when the song finished and Eriru somehow vanished, with Lucia and Hanon celebrating their victory.

That didn't last long as Heartless started to appear and surround Lucia and Hanon. With the Heartless consisting of Aquatic Soldiers and Screwdivers Lucia and Hanon started to freak out with Hanon shouting, "What the heck are these things?!"

Lucia recognized the Soldiers as she said, "I-I think these things are Heartless that Hippo told me about."

"Heartless?! You mean that story's real?!" Hanon shouted, as one of the Soldiers tried to attack them, but the Live Stage deflected the attack. Lucia saw that and sighed in relief saying, "Whew, at least the Live Stage will protect us."

A moment later a Screwdiver tried to attack with it's spear, but that strike got deflected too, but it left a crack in the Live Stage. Hanon shouted, "It won't protect us forever."

"What should we do?!" Lucia said. She and Hanon started to panic as more cracks started to appear. That's when Attis' voice shouted out "Blizzard!" and from out of nowhere, a Blizzard spell hit one of the Screwdiver, the block of ice hitting it in the back, stunning it.

The other Heartless, as well as Lucia and Hanon, turned to the source and saw Attis swimming towards them. As he approached Attis said to himself, "Note to self, never hide in seaweed." Holding Xatana in his hand, he slashed one of the soldiers in half. He made a path towards the two Mermaid Princesses and asked, "Are the two of you alright?"

As Hanon was in a bit of a shock at what happened, Lucia looked at him and said, "I know you; you saved me and Kaito the other day!"

"The one and only Pink Mermaid Princess" Attis replied in a deeper voice, blocking a Screwdiver's attack and kicking it back. Hanon seemed to snap out of it and pointed to Attis asking, "Who the heck is that?"

"He's the person that saved me from the Heartless the other day." Lucia replied. Hanon just nodded. Then Attis asked the two, "Can the two of you sing a song for the Heartless?"

Both of the Mermaid Princesses surprised knowing what he meant then Lucia asked, "Are you sure?" Attis assured her and replied, "I'm sure"

Lucia turned to Hanon and said, "Hanon!" Then Hanon replied "Yeah!" Both of them know what to do in this situation they say "The encore is Pichi Pichi Duet!"

_Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete tooi misaki wo mezashiteta  
Yoake mae kikoeta MERODII  
Sore wa totemo natsukashii uta_

As both Mermaid Princesses singing together. The Heartless are shaking in pain.

_Higashi no sora he to habataku toritachi  
Saa takarajima ni nukeru chikamichi._

One by one the Heartless vanish in a flash, with a heart flying out of it and out of site.

_Nanatsu no umi no rakuen  
Arashi no yoru no ato ni wa ai wo tsutaeru tame inochi ga mata umareru  
Nanatsu no kuni no MERODIA  
Daremo ga itsuka wa koko wo tabidatsu hi ga kitemo  
Watashi wa wasurenai_

As they finish singing the Heartless surrounding them dissipate. The two Mermaid Princesses say in unison, "Love Shower Pichi!"

Attis looked in awe and thought, 'I still can't find it hard to believe it…. They can defeat Heartless by singing.' He looked around, waiting to see of anymore Heartless would appear, but nothing happened. Then he turned to Lucia and Hanon and said, "Well, everything seems to be clear Princesses."

There was a moment of silence before Attis said, "I guess I'll take my leave." Before Attis could leave however, Lucia called out to him asking, "Please, wait a moment! Just who are you?"

Attis turned to face them and thought about it. For moment he considered revealing himself to them, but at the last second, decided against it. Instead he replied, "Just call me Xaitts" decided tell his Nobody name than his real name.

"That's a weird name…" Lucia said under her breath, but Hanon somehow knew that Attis wasn't telling them his real name. Instead, she questioned him, "Why are you helping us?"

Attis replied, "I was requested by the Sea Goddess Aqua Regina to aid and protect the Mermaid Princesses." That surprised both Lucia and Hanon, while Attis thought to himself, 'What the heck did I just say? I sure didn't sound like myself just now.' Lucia went on to ask, "Those things are the Heartless right? Why are they after us?"

"The Heartless are after your hearts Princesses." Attis replied, "The power of you hearts is strong, especially when synchronized with your pearls. From what I've seen now and last time, the Heartless come after you when you bring the power of your pearls. I don't think they'll be able to come after you if you don't use your pearls."

"So we're safe if we don't turn into our idol forms." Attis told her, "Pretty much. When you use the power of your pearls, it acts like a beacon to the heartless, attracting them, But Don't worry; you can use the power of your pearls to fight the Heartless just like you did to the water demons."

Attis took a deep breath and said, "Sorry, that's all I can tell you for now. I guess I'll see the two of you later." he used the corridor of darkness to teleport himself away. "Wait please!" Lucia shouted but Attis vanished.

With that, leaving Lucia and Hanon by themselves. Lucia turned to Hanon and said, "Well, I guess that answers a few things…" Hanon nodded and she said, "Yeah, Lets head back to the surface for now." The two reverted back into their mermaid forms and swam back to the surface.

Meanwhile, Attis teleported his way back to a nearby beach with a few mountain rocks and shook off the excess water before his cloak dried him. As Xatana vanished from his hand he thought to himself, 'Hmm, the behavior of the Heartless is a bit strange. I wonder if the Organization is behind this….'

Then he sat down on one of the mountain rocks for a while and thinking about the current events happen. "It's clear that Hanon is a Mermaid Princesses but the one thing that caught my attention is Taro Mitsuki who has the same presence as the Superior…hmmm, I wonder if there is a connection between him and the Superior."

As Attis thinking about everything that happen, he heard someone singing and quickly hid himself on one of the mountain rocks and peek who is singing. It was Lucia in mermaid form sitting on a rock singing then he saw Kaito standing on land staring at Lucia. Kaito rush into the rock were Lucia is sitting but Lucia jump into the ocean and goes near to Kaito. They have a little conversation then Lucia kiss Kaito on the cheek then dive on the ocean telling him search me, you'll find me for sure.

After listening to their conversation he thought, 'Hmm. It seems Kaito doesn't realize that Lucia is the Mermaid he met in the past…..hmm, well in time he well find out so I'll just leave those two for their love to progress.' As he turned around and thought again, 'Love huh…no matter what kind of emotions I can never feel them….. Because I'm a Nobody, I feel nothing.'


	4. Chapter 4 Fortune

Chapter 4 Fortune

_Attis' apartment_

The next morning while listening to the news on the Television, Attis was getting ready to go to work. Wearing a pair of dark grey jeans and a white dress shirt, he cleaned himself up a bit as he thought, 'Ha, didn't think the whole time fiasco could do this' As Attis preparing he heard a news in television, "Just this morning, world-renowned artist Jennifer Houston arrived in Japan! Tomorrow's concert tickets were sold out months ago" He turned his attention to the TV and saw blonde women wearing a white dress and a green pearl necklace around her neck. "So the famous artist is here in japan huh….. Well I'm not interested so whatever."

After all of that, Attis left his apartment and made his way over to Maki's restaurant for the first day.

* * *

_Maki's restaurant_

By the time Attis got there, it was ten minutes to ten, and he opened the door to find Maki setting up the place. Maki heard the door open and looked up to see Attis walking in and said, "Ah, Attis-san, glad to see that you're on time."

Attis nodded at that, "So, what do I do Maki-san?" Maki looked at Attis for a minute, then asked him, "You don't mind putting on black bow, do you?"

For a moment, Attis looked at Maki oddly. Then he replied, "Uh, I guess so…" At that Maki just laughed and said, "Don't worry about that, it was just a joke. What you're wearing is good enough, though you might want to wear something lighter during the hotter days."

"I'll keep that in mind Maki-san." Attis said, a bit amused at Maki's antics. Then Maki told him, "You'll be taking on the job of being a waiter most of the time. I'll ask you to do other things every now and again but taking orders from the customers is what you''' be doing from now on."

"Yes sir." Attis said, and he prepared himself. As the place opened Attis thought to himself, 'This is something that I shouldn't be doing, but since I need money to support myself, I don't have much of a choice here…'

Attis managed to get the hang of the job quick enough, and being new, it attracted some attention from a few of the regulars. By the time his first break came, Attis felt a little bit exhausted from all the work. As he sat down to take a break, Maki came up to him and said, "Wow, you sure managed to get used to the workload pretty quickly."

"It's nothing really; I learned to be adaptive quite a while ago." Attis told him. That's when another customer called to have their order taken and Attis got up saying, "Well, I guess there's no time for breaks I guess."

Maki just laughed as Attis went over to take the customer's order. As time went by, Attis thought about the Heartless from time to time, one of his thought being, 'Hmm, from the odd behavior of the Heartless, it's most likely the Organization is behind this… But why are they sending only heartless instead of the Nobodies?'

Soon, it was a bit after five, and Attis felt quite tired. That's when Maki came up to him and said, "Good work Attis-san. I must say, it was quite impressive for your first day. It was like you've been working here all this time."

"Haha, as I said, I'm just adaptive that way." Attis said, waving it off. Maki then told him, "Nevertheless, you did well for your first day. You can go home now…wait, I need to tell you something first." Maki led Attis to the staff room, and Maki said, "Next week is Golden week, and even though for most of Japan it's a holiday, this restaurant will still be open. Is it okay for you to come in next week? "

Attis instantly agreed to it, "Sure, it's no problem for me." Maki looked relieved and said, "Okay, now that's settled. The next thing I wanted to say was that the restaurant will be closed for a few days, due to some things that I have to settle."

A nod came from Attis and said, "Okay." Then he looked around and asked, "Excuse me, but are there other employees here Maki-san?"

"Yes, there is and one of them was supposed to be here already. I wonder what's taking him." Maki replied. Attis nodded and walked out the door saying, "Thanks for the info, and I'll see you tomorrow Maki-san."

Maki just gave a nod as he watched Attis leave the restaurant. He couldn't help but think, 'That boy sure is mature for his age. I wonder what made him turn out that way…'

* * *

_Pearl Piari – Outside_

Attis was busy walking around the town, searching for any signs of abnormalities, but found nothing. He found it strange, but felt relieve at the same time, since Heartless would go after anyone to increase their numbers. Having less Heartless around meant the Mermaid Princesses were safe from harm.

As he walking, he passed by Pearl Piari when he saw a strange site. Lucia was about to attack a woman with blond hair, wearing sunglasses and a trench coat. As he stopped in front of the hotel he heard the woman scream, "What are you doing, attacking a customer?!" From the look Attis could see on Lucia's face, she was surprised by what the woman said and replied, "Eh, a customer?"

That's when Attis called out to Lucia saying, "Is something the matter Lucia-san?" That's when Lucia turned around and said, "Attis-san!"

* * *

_Pearl Piari – Inside_

Inside Pearl Piari, Attis watched the scene as Lucia apologized to the woman for trying to attack her. Taking a look at how the woman acted, Attis thought, 'She should stop trying so hard to act inconspicuous, since she's actually attracting too much attention.' Then he noticed the green pearl necklace she's wearing, thinking, 'That necklace where have I seen that before?'

The woman noticed Attis looking at her and asked, "Is there something you want?" Attis just replied, "Nope, though I gotta say, trying to cover your face like that would attract a lot of attention."

A 'hmph' came from the woman and she just walked off by heading to the stairs to the top floor, leaving Attis to roll his eyes. The woman behind the counter went up to him and asked, "Excused me, but who are you?"

Taking a quick look at the woman's face, he saw that she had purple hair tied up along with brown eyes. Attis cleared his throat and said, "Sorry about that. My name's Attis Hale, but you can just call me Attis. I'm an acquaintance with Lucia-san over here."

The woman behind the counter looked a bit surprised by that and she said, "Well, I'm Nikora Nanami, Lucia's older sister and the manager of Pearl Piari." Attis took a quick look around and said, "Wow, a young woman like you managing a place like this? That's quite amazing."

"Oh, you're just saying that." Nikora said with a smile, waving him off. That's when Attis heard Lucia mutter, "She's not as young as she looks though." A sudden chill came from Nikora as she asked, "Did you say something Lucia?"

Lucia quickly shook her head and said, "Nope, nothing at all!" Then she quickly ran to her room and out of sight. Attis just smirked at that and asked, "Excuse me Nanami-san, but are you and Lucia stepsisters by any chance?"

For a second, Attis thought he saw that Nikora had been caught off guard by the question, but she then replied, "Yes, it's true. She move here from her old home and I'm taking care of her right now."

Suddenly, Attis heard footsteps and turned to see an older woman with long brown gray hair and dressed like a fortune teller. She even had a large green crystal ball in her hands. Before Attis could say anything, Nikora said, "Oh, Attis-san, this is Taki-san, our resident fortuneteller."

Attis bowed his head at Taki and said, "It's nice to meet you Taki-san. I'm Attis Hale, but you can call me Attis." Taki replied, "So you're name is Attis huh? Very interesting…"

Attis couldn't help but have an odd feeling about Taki, as Nikora said, "Taki-san, you're scaring Attis-san you know." That's when Taki asked, "Do you mind coming with me for a moment Attis-san?"

For a moment, Attis glanced at Nikora, who looked a bit surprised by Taki's question. Then he just shrugged and replied, "I guess so…" Taki nodded and said, "Follow me please."

At that Attis followed Taki into her fortune telling room, making Nikora think, 'That was odd, Taki-san didn't seem herself just now.'

Inside the dark room, Attis was sitting behind a table facing Taki and her crystal orb. Taki told him, "Usually, I would charge you for a fortunetelling, but I'll let it go just this once." Attis just sat there wondering as Taki went on with her orb, thinking, 'What am I doing here?'

Suddenly Taki said, "Hmm, I see you facing two obstacles, which you have the ability to overcome it but you let two people to deal with it. Let's see….. Someone you knew will get involved. " A moment of silenced went on before she said, "I also see Water and Fire Clash, but somehow fire overcomes water."

Taki gave a sight and said, "I can't see any more than that." Attis nodded as he and Taki got up. Attis said, "Uh, well, thank you very much for fortune Taki-san. I guess I'll see what will happen later then."

A nod came from Taki as the two left the room. Outside they saw Hanon beside Nikora noticed them walk out and asked, "So, how did it go?"

"It was quite… interesting to say the least." Attis replied. That's when Hanon said, "Attis-san! I'm glad to see that you're alright. I haven't seen you since you ran off at the surfing competition."

"Yeah, sorry about that" Attis said, scratching the back of his head. That's when Attis saw Hippo running up to them holding something pink that Attis couldn't identify. Hippo was about to say something when he noticed that Attis was standing there and kept his mouth shut. Attis saw Hippo and asked, "Who's this?"

"Oh, that's Hippo, Lucia's pet." Nikora told him. Attis nodded and said, "Well, I guess I better get going. It was nice meeting you Nikora-san, Taki-san, and it was good to see you and Lucia-san too Hanon-san. I'll see all of you later." Attis gave a wave and left Pearl Piari.

* * *

_Pearl Piari – Outside_

Outside Attis looked to the sunset, still thinking about Taki's words. He shook his head and he walked off. "Hey! Attis" Attis heard someone calling his name it was Kaito.

"Oh! Hi Kaito." Attis replied and walking up to Kaito near the beach. Kaito asked with a curious look, "Attis, you live at the Pearl Piari?" Attis shook his head, "No I live in a different apartment why'd you asked?" Kaito answered, "Because I saw you going outside."

Attis replied with a sigh, "Oh, that. Let's just say I was caught up misunderstanding situation between Lucia-san who mistaken a customer for being a thief and also got my fortune tell by an odd fortune teller."

Kaito laugh a bit suddenly he asked, "wait Lucia is in there?" Attis replied, "Actually she lives there and Hanon-san too." He looked at Kaito who has a concerned look on his faced and asked. "What? is something the matter?" Kaito replied "Lucia was acting pretty weird today but I don't' know why?" Then Attis assured him, "Then why not asked her yourself."

Kaito with a nod and said, "Okay, I'll asked her" As he walked on to Pearl Piari while Attis walking a bit far behind him he noticed Lucia is Taking a Taxi with Hanon and also a Blonde woman in a trench coat then ran off to the right direction of the road. "What's her hurry?" Kaito wondering what happened.

Attis saw the woman in a trench coat earlier but now without sunglasses and thought, 'That woman where have I seen her before? Hmm.' as he tried to remember he only remember something important, 'The Heartless hasn't showed up lately…hmm, its better I should just followed them to make sure nothing happens.' "Ah! That's right I need to buy some groceries. See you next time Kaito!" Attis made an excused while waving his right hand and running to the right direction where the Taxi ran off then Kaito shout "Okay! See you! "

* * *

_Unknown Hotel_

Attis, due to his speed since his more faster than a human or even a vehicle he finally reach his destination were the taxi stop it was a hotel and there is a parking lot near the ocean. He decided to hide one of the trees and observe. Then he noticed the blonde woman in a trench coat accompanied by Lucia and Hanon. He thought, 'That Blonde Woman I saw her on TV this morning…. She's the world-renowned artist Jennifer Houston. Why is Lucia-san and Hanon-san accompanying her?'

As he continued to observe he saw a man wearing business suit without necktie standing outside of the parking lot. Jennifer Houston saw the man and decided to go where he stands then the man notice Jennifer decided to go near her. As they stop suddenly the water from the ocean rises up in a form like a snake and attacked both of them. The man trying to protect Jennifer but he was dragged along with Jennifer to the ocean. Lucia and Hanon noticed that and they dive in to the ocean.

Attis noticed this and decided to materialize and putting on his black coat. He goes were the two people were drag to the water. And then he decided to sense it 'Hmm….. This Energy it's not the work of a Heartless….It must be a water demon and it's two of them.' After finish sensing he decided to dive in but Lucia and Hanon in their mermaid form submerged from the ocean holding the two unconscious people.

"Are they Okay?" Lucia asked. Hanon assured her "it's okay. It seems that they're only unconscious." Lucia felt relief "Thank goodness." Attis call them, "It's seems you two needed a hand" Lucia and Hanon turned their attention to Attis. Lucia shout in surprised, "Xaitts-san!" Hanon questioned, "When did you get here?!" Attis ignore her question and told them. "That's not important I'll take care of them while you two deal with them" He pointed out the two water demons that submerged.

Attis notice Eriru from yesterday and another water demon wearing a purple headpiece, and purple hair piece that she puts around her ponytail. She has a brownish red hair and light pink eyes. She also wears orange diamond shaped earrings and an orange bracelet. "Looky here, two Mermaid Princesses" The purple hair water demon notice the Mermaid Princesses. "Lucky us!" Eriru smiled cheerfully then he notice Attis carrying two unconscious humans and putting them gently to the ground. "Izuru, Who's the Black Coated guy?" She pointed Attis which he noticed. Izuru response, "I don't know who that is but let's get rid of him."

Lucia and Hanon jump out of the ocean water then they shout together. "Pink Pearl Voice" "Aqua Pearl Voice" A bright light engulfed them suddenly they transform to their Idol form landing in front of Attis. Izuru with a confident look "I'll capture you" Eriru spin around her eyes glow red and continued after Izuru, "Prepare Yourselves!"

""Go!" Izuru summoned a water dragon from the ocean and charge at Lucia and Hanon. But both of them dodge easily. Hanon notice the water dragon is headed to Attis and the two unconscious humans she shout, "Look Out!" Attis noticed this he engulfed his left hand with Dark Flames to block the water dragon then it dispersed into smoke when contact. Izuru was surprised so does Eriru and the two Mermaid Princesses. Eriru snap out from the surprised "Now it's my turn!" she shot two black wavy energy arrows from her right hand. Both Mermaid Princesses dodge splendidly. Attis thought, 'Despite of their singing they are good at dodging.' One of the black arrows is headed to his direction didn't bother to dodge he just caught it with his left hand and smash it the black arrow dissolve. Eriru look at the Black hooded figure in awe.

"I won't forgive someone who messes with a girl's resolved!" Lucia yelled at them. Hanon told Lucia "Lucia, let's start the show!" Lucia nodded in response. They say it together in unison, "Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!"

_Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete tooi misaki wo mezashiteta  
Yoake mae kikoeta MERODII  
Sore wa totemo natsukashii uta_

Izuru covered her ears with her hands feeling the effects of the song so does Eriru while spinning around.

_Higashi no sora he to habataku toritachi  
Saa takarajima ni nukeru chikamichi._

As two Mermaid Princesses continue singing while the two water demons are shaking in pain. Attis couldn't help it. 'What's so bad of listening to a song it's not like its goanna kill you' Attis noticed two shadows hiding in the bottom of the car but they explode. Attis sigh, 'Well for Heartless maybe.'

_Nanatsu no umi no rakuen  
Arashi no yoru no ato ni wa ai wo tsutaeru tame inochi ga mata umareru  
Nanatsu no kuni no MERODIA  
Daremo ga itsuka wa koko wo tabidatsu hi ga kitemo  
Watashi wa wasurenai_

Ones they finish singing both of them say "Love Shower Peach!" then "How about an Encore?"

Both water demons are weaken "I'll pass up on that offer!"Eriru shout then Izuru "I lost again…" Both of them sink to the ocean for retreat.

The Two Mermaid Princesses laugh at their victory. "Honestly, for the Heartless they explode and for Water Demons they swim away like a bunch of drama queens" Lucia and Hanon notice Attis comment with a sigh. "What's that supposed to mean?" Hanon asked then he replied, "Nothing, I just find it weird that's all" Lucia asked with a worried expression, "Are they Okay? Xaitts-san" Attis turned and looked at two he assured her. "They're fine and they're about to wake up so it's better for you two dive back to the ocean." Attis teleported away using the corridor of darkness as for Lucia and Hanon dive back to the Ocean.

Jennifer Houston wakes up in a man's arms and sees his face. "Richard" She say the man's name. "Thank God! Jennifer, are you alright?"Richard felt relief then he asked. But she remained silent and staring at him. "Oh. I'm sorry… you're angry with me, aren't you…But you're wrong! It was a misunderstanding! That young girl was you fan, and as your producer she was enthusiastic.." She put her pointer finger on his slip to stop speaking while saying, "Don't say anymore than that! I understand!" Then she hugged him. "Thank you Richard!" They both stand while she was hugging him tightly. As she let go they looked at each other then they kiss.

Lucia and Hanon noticed the scene at the ocean with a smile on their face. Attis also notice the scene since he was curious so teleported himself on top of the tree sitting in its branch. He comment the scene, 'Base the conversation I heard it was all a misunderstanding and then they show their love deeply to one another' Then he thought. 'Hmm. Those two they follow what their Hearts tell them.' He put his right hand to his chest then he closed his eyes for three minutes then he open his eyes and thought. 'As expected I don't understand since I don't have a Heart anyway… It's time for me to go home.' Attis teleported himself to go home.

Also, from a nearby tree, a green haired girl witness everything that's happen and thought, 'Who is that person on a Black Coat?'

* * *

_Attis' Apartment_

Attis teleported back to his apartment. He managed to take off his cloak and shoes before he fell on his bed. All he felt like doing was lie in bed for a couple of minutes before cooking his meal but he had a few things to think about first.

He remembered the battle between two mermaid princesses and two water demons that's when Attis suddenly remembered what Taki had told him back at their fortune telling session, 'That sounds like what Taki-san told me. 'The two obstacles, which you have the ability to overcome it' were the two water demons….. Well I could take them on but it's a waste of energy…. Then 'you let two people to deal with it.'….must be the Lucia and Hanon, It's true I let them handle the situation….. Then 'Someone you knew will get involved'….. Must be Jennifer Houston…and then 'Water and fire clashed. but somehow fire overcomes water.'…. Oh yeah when that water dragon charged at me I use my Dark Flames to block it after all Dark Flames is main elemental attribute which it can burn anything.'

Not being much of a believer in fortune telling, this shook Attis up quite a bit and thought, 'Wow, first time a fortune I was told actually came true. Maybe I should stop by tomorrow and see what else Taki-san has to say.'


	5. Chapter 5 Music from the Heart

Chapter 5 Music from the Heart

Golden Week was going to start in a few days, yet Attis had the day off, since Maki was off on business. Attis remembered that yesterday was quite hectic, since news about the new guy at the establishment had spread, and most of the customers were looking at him. Since most of them were girls, he had quite the hard time keeping things professional, as some tried to hit on him.

Maki was quite interested in how Attis managed to keep his cool, and was quite impress how he managed to keep everything calm at the end of his work day. Attis however felt quite drained for the whole thing and even told Maki how it felt like he was trying to entertain all the customers. At the end of all of that, Maki went and gave Attis his pay, saying that jobs pays weekly instead of monthly.

Now Attis was looking around, still searching for any signs of the Heartless and Nobodies. Having seen nothing so far Attis decided to just head back to his apartment and watch T.V. when he saw Tarp Mitsuki outside what looked like a mail office. Taking a closer look, he saw that there were a couple of boxes beside him that looked like were one too many to carry by himself.

Wondering what Taro was doing just standing there, Attis approached him saying, ""Mitsuki-san?" Taro looked up at Attis and said, "Oh, Attis-san, hello."

Looking at the boxes, Attis pointed to them and asked, "What's with the boxes Mitsuki-san? Buy something that came in one too many pieces?" Taro laughed a bit at that and told him, "No, no, these are just a few packages that were sent from my parents' house." Taking a closer look at the boxes, Attis saw that there were four in total, stacked up upon each other. He thought, 'Wow, sure is a lot of stuff…'

Suddenly, a thought came to Taro and asked, "Excused me Attis-san, but could you please help me take these boxes to my house? I can't carry all of them as you can see, and I was about to consider calling a cab…"

Attis knew where Taro was going with what he was saying and said, "Don't worry about it Mitsuki-san. I'll help, since it's my day off and all…" Taro looked quite thankful at Attis' words and said, "Thank you very much Attis-san. "I'll take the first two, and you take the other two." Attis nodded but in reality he just wanted to observe Taro since his Qi is similar to the 'Superior', the two went over to pick up the boxes.

Now Taro was leading Attis back to his house and Attis observed Taro while carrying the box and thought, 'Hmm… He looks normal in every way…' Then Attis asked Taro, "Sorry to pry, but what exactly are in these boxes?"

"Oh, just a few possessions of mine that behind back at my parents' place." Taro replied. Seeing Attis' slightly confused face, Taro explained, "Long story short, I used to travel a lot in the past. It's only recently that I settled down in this town."

"…I see." Attis said. They managed to reach Taro's house in short amount of time, which Attis noticed was one of the seaside houses. Taro put the boxes he was holding on the ground so he could open the front door, then picked them up and went inside, with Attis following him.

Taking a quick look inside, Attis saw that it was quite the nice house. Following Taro to the living room, he put the boxes down beside one of the couches and said, "You can put them down here Attis-san." Attis nodded and put the boxes he was holding down beside the other two. Giving a small sigh, Attis said, "I guess that's that."

"Thank you very much for the help Attis-san." Taro said. Attis nodded, when he noticed a picture on the Table. Attis looked at the picture he saw a child holding Sea Salt Ice Cream which he is familiar with in his left hand while his right hand holding arms with an adult with blond hair and worn long and slicked back also sported a short mustache and goatee with eyes are bright orange. And also wore a periwinkle lab coat, underneath this, a dark grey vest, white collared shirt, and a violet ascot, as well as black pants and shoes. The Adult also draped a red sweater or coat of some sort over his shoulders.

Attis recognized the child and Adult in the picture. He asked, "Mitsuki-san is this you when you're a kid?"

"Yes, that's me together with my Godfather." Taro replied with a nod. "Your Godfather is Ansem!" Attis couldn't help but surprised. Taro looked at him with a questionable looked "You know my Godfather?" He replied, "Off course I do his a famous researcher. I read every article about him." Then he thought, 'Not to mention his the great Sage King'

Taro with a smiled on his face, "I see, My Godfather Ansem was one of the closest persons in my life, when I was a child during vacation he was always their visit me and my parents, He always play with me, Eating Ice Cream together, and also he always listen when I'm playing a piano." Attis listened, when he noticed the piano near the patio door that overlooked the ocean. Attis asked, "You play piano Mitsuki-san?"

"Yes, I do," Taro replied with a nod, "I'm a professional, as well as a music teacher, though most of my time is spent teaching." That's when he asked, "Do you like music Attis-san?"

"Yeah," Attis replied, "They say listening to music will affect the person's heart and the person playing it they express what's in their heart."

Taro was speechless the words Attis said. Attis noticed his expression. "Is something what I said?" Taro shook his head, "No, It's just those are the same words Ansem said to me when he listened to my music." Then his expression became sad. Attis notice this and asked, "Is something the matter?" Taro replied with a sad expression, "Thirteen years ago Ansem was involved in a research facility along with his apprentices but there was a certain incident that causes Ansem and his apprentices to vanish."

"I heard about that one of the article they say they just disappeared and there is no evidence or even a corpse." Attis say while Taro still has sad expression in his face. "It's been Thirteen years we still don't know whether they are alive or not"

Attis apologized, "Sorry bringing up a painful subject." Taro shook his head with a smile, "No it's alright thanks to you I remembered the words what Ansem said to me." Taro took out a ticket from his pocket and handed it to Attis saying, "Here, this is a ticket to a concert that I'm playing at. It's my way of saying thank you." Attis took the ticket and looked at it saying, "Thank you very much Mitsuki-san. I'll be sure to make it."

Giving a nod and a goodbye, Attis left the house and started walking back to his apartment. Taking another look at the ticket he received for more information, he thought, 'Wonder what this concert all about.' Then suddenly he stopped walking and remembered something important, 'I'm surprised that Mitsuki-san's Godfather is Ansem the Wise then that means he also know one of the apprentices… Xehanort'

As he started walking again, he heard someone shouting, "If you keep trying to accuse me of something, I won't forgive you even if you're a girl!" Attis recognized the voice as Kaito's and thought, 'That was Kaito's voice just now!' Looking up ahead he saw Kaito with his surfboard, staring at a woman with long green hair reaching to just below her hips, with her grey eyes. She wears a boy's uniform instead of the girl's. Walking up to them, he thought, 'What's she doing staring at Kaito like that?'

He was right at them when the green haired girl decided to run away, running right into Attis and pushing him aside without even looking. Attis nearly fell over and Kaito saw the whole thing, so he went over and asked, "Attis, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Attis said, dusting himself off. He looked in the direction the girl ran off to and asked, "What's that about?" Kaito replied, "That girl's harassing me a lot!"

"Harassing you why?" Attis asked with a confuse look.

Kaito's mood got a bit worse and he told Attis, "Toin-san's been harassing me ever since she transferred to my school. Keep going on about how I'm in disguise and that she'll unmask me or something…"

Attis looked at him and said with shock, "Say, what?!" Kaito nodded at Attis' shock and said, "I know! She hasn't stopped doing that to me. It's like I'm her worst enemy, and I haven't even met here before!"

"Wow, that's tough. Judging the situation is just a misunderstanding since she mistaken you for someone else. Knowing you, you're not the type to do bad things. So don't worry about it. Things will turn out okay in the end." Attis told him. Kaito looked a bit grateful for that and said, "I hope you're right Attis, I'll see you later."

Giving a wave to Kaito as he walked off, Attis went by the opposite direction and headed back to his apartment and wait for the concert while doing other things.

* * *

_Gaito's Castle_

Gaito walking towards tanks that held two Mermaid Princesses, he looked at one of them and said, "Beautiful! Mermaid Princess… to take that beauty to be own…" He turned his attention to Izuru and Eriru ordered them, "The remaining one… bring it to me quickly…" They nodded in response.

Then he taken a glass of wine from a table near a tiara then he said, "Then I will introduce Aqua Regina, the Sea Goddess, and control the entire ocean!" After that he drank the wine glass.

"Gaito-sama!" Someone called him. "What is it, Yuri?"He turned his attention to a twelve year old girl has long green wavy hair with a red and grey frilly headband and bright green eyes. And also she wears a rather formal and long red dress with a lot of ruffles and black and gray trims.

"Do you like the second Mermaid Princess we captured…?" Yuri bowing in a lady like manner. Gaito replied pleasantly, "Yes. Excellent job." Then he continued drinking his wine. Yuri with determined eyes, "I'm close to finding the mermaid who was with the one from the Arctic Ocean…Hey! Izuru, Eriru, I heard you got whooped by the Mermaid Princesses!..." She chuckle and mockingly "What dimwits! Why are you so stupid? Even though I'm this smart!" Izuru and Eriru are displeased by Yuri's attitude towards them. As she continue and observed the tanks that held two Mermaid Princesses "Thanks to you, it seems that they've started teaming up! If they combine their powers it'll be a problem, don't you think? Unlike these worthless fools, I'll capture the remaining Princesses and their Pearls!" She laughed arrogantly.

As Gaito finish drinking his wine and with a determine look in his face said. "This sea shall soon be mine." Yuri assured him, "Please leave it to me, Gaito-sama!"

Eriru interrupt and asked, "But what about the Black Coat guy?" Gaito and Yuri turned their attention to Eriru, Yuri asked, "Black Coat guy?" Izuru continue, "Yesterday when we try to capture the Mermaid Princesses there was a person wearing a Hooded Black Coat alongside them. We try attacking that person but that guy deflected our attacks like it was nothing."

"Hmph. I don't care who that guy is but I'm going to capture the Mermaid Princesses." Yuri showed her confidence as for Gaito was curious about the Black Cloaked Person they mentioned.

* * *

Concert Hall

Attis was sitting on a chair in the back row, looking down at the stage as the concert was about to start. Earlier Attis noticed that Kaito, Lucia, and Hanon were attending also, seeing them walk down the isle and sit down in seats a few rows below his. That's when he saw Taro walk onto the stage and he clapped with the rest of the crowd at his appearance.

That's when he heard Hanon shout, "Taro-chan!" which made Attis smirk and think, 'Hanon's quite excited about Mitsuki-san. I wonder why…'

Soon, as Taro settled in, he started to play on the piano, and Attis couldn't help but be impressed by Taro's playing. Attis observed his expression is quite calm and serene. He thought, "The way he plays the piano. He played it to his heart's content. As for the audience" He observed the people around him, "It's seems that they were touch by his music. It's like they say listening to music will affect the person's heart and the person playing it they express what's in their heart."

Attis with a sad smile on his face and thought to himself while putting his right hand on his chest, "Even though I can hear Mitsuki-san's music I don't feel anything since I don't have a heart."

As the piano played, Attis saw Kaito get up and he was a slightly annoyed look on his face. A moment later, Lucia was up, looking like she just woke up from a nap, which Attis found quite amusing. But as much was interesting, Attis wondered what was up with Kaito. So he quickly got out of his seat and went back out into the foyer.

Out in the foyer, Attis came across a familiar site; Kaito and the Green Haired Girl staring at each other again, but this time, Lucia was with them. He walked up to them as he heard Lucia say, "The piano is truly wonderful!"

Then Kaito said, "Sure, says the person who fell asleep…" Lucia was embarrassed, while Attis let out a laugh as Kaito left the foyer, on his way home. Attis walked up to her and asked, "What's wrong with Kaito?"

Lucia nearly jumped at Attis' voice as she turned around and said, "Oh, Attis-san, you're here too?"

"I was invited by Mitsuki-san." Attis told her. Then Lucia turned to the Green haired girl and said, "Oh, that's right!" Then Attis saw Lucia take out something from out of her pocket and held it to her saying, "Rina, I was gonna give this to you, here!" Tilting his head a bit, Attis saw a green ring with three flowers of the same color in her hand.

That's when Lucia said, "I worked real hard to make it! We're classmates, right?" Attis raised an eyebrow at that as Lucia smiled and said, "A sign of friendship!"

Suddenly, Rina grabbed the ring and said with a bit of anger, "You're too carefree!" Then she walked off to the entrance, with Attis making sure he was out of the way this time. When he saw the look on Lucia's face he said, "I wouldn't worry about it too much Lucia-san. Toin-san looks like she has a lot on her mind at the moment."

"Yeah…" Lucia said. Then what Attis said to her registered in her mind and she asked, "Eh? How do you know Rina?"

Attis replied, "Kaito told me about her when he was harassed by her." Suddenly out of the corner of Attis' eye, he thought he saw something like a Shadow turn the corner and out of sight. At the same time Taro's piano playing came to an end but Attis didn't pay any attention to that. Instead he said, "Sorry Lucia-san, I remembered I had something to do. I'll see you later."

Before Lucia could say anything Attis was already off down the hall where he saw the Shadow, and eventually he came to a dead end in the hallway, but found nothing. Attis looked around for a moment before he said, "What the…was it just my imagination?"

All of a sudden, an eerie melody started playing and Attis found it a bit odd. A chill went down his spine and had an odd feeling about it. He quickly changed into his black coat and started to walk back down the hallway. That's when a few employees came out of the adjacent rooms, having an odd look on their faces. They turned towards him started walking forward as Attis thought, 'The heck is this? They're acting like zombies!'

Quickly, Attis evade the employees' attempts to grab him and he hit them from behind, causing them to collapse on the spot. He made his way through the other employees that tried to grab him and eventually made it back to the foyer. That's when Attis' saw Rina run through the foyer and thought, 'What the heck is she thinking?!'

That's when Attis saw a Green Shell necklace in Rina's hand and saw her put it on. He sighed and figured that Rina was the Green Mermaid Princess in a snap he quickly use the corridor of darkness to teleport himself to the concert hall, where he found Lucia, and Hanon in their Idol forms surrounded by zombie like audience and Taro is unconscious then on stage he saw girl with long lime- green hair wearing a red dress playing at the piano. He thought, 'The way she play the piano means she's the one controlling them so that means she's a water demon.'

Attis was about to help them but then he saw Rina running towards them and shout, "Green Pearl Voice" As the bright engulfed her she transform into her Idol form. As she about to sing but interrupted by a sound of a horn blowing.

Everyone present heard a horn blowing repeatedly and it came from the top of the piano. Attis recognized it and thought, 'Damn, That's a Loud Mouths and there are two of it!'

The water demon noticed it, "What is that?!" The Two Loud Mouths jumping while blowing there horn. Heartless started to appear, and Attis counted twenty shadows, fifteen Soldiers, and ten Air Soldiers. Most of them had their eyes of their respected targets namely Humans, Mermaid Princesses, and also the Water Demon.

The three Mermaid Princesses who grew worried at the numbers and the water demon started to panic.

Lucia was the first one to say, "Oh no, it's the Heartless!" Rina thought, 'Heartless?! You mean just like the story ten years ago' Hanon looked at Heartless surrounding them and said, "Lucia, Rina, We should start singing!" But of the Air Soldiers made a nosedive towards the three Princesses and they braced themselves for the impact. It never came, as Attis had jumped at the Air Soldier and sliced it in half with Xatana, causing it to dissipate.

Lucia and Hanon looked relieved at Attis' appearance, while Rina looked at him and thought, 'That's the guy from the other night…'

Seeing the two Loud Mouths jumping and blowing their horn, Attis said while raising his left hand pointing at the two, "Enough with that annoying sound, 'Thunder'!" A lightning bolt appeared from his left hand striking at the two Crescendo and then dissipate.

Rina minus Lucia and Hanon was surprised so does the Water demon. The Water demon thought, 'So his the Black Coated guy that Izuru and Eriru mentioned.'

The Heartless started advancing to their respective targets. Another Air Soldier made a nosedive towards the three Princesses but suddenly, white light enveloped the three Mermaid Princesses, and the Air Soldier bounced off the barrier.

Attis saw the Heartless started to devour the humans then he told the Mermaid Princesses, "You three should start singing or else the humans will be devoured by the Heartless….Oh Yeah the Water Demon will get devoured by them too for her awful performances." Adding with a mocking attitude caused the water demon to shout back "Hey!"

The three looked at each other and nodded together they say "Here we go! Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!"

_Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete tooi misaki wo mezashiteta__  
__Yoake mae kikoeta MERODII__  
__Sore wa totemo natsukashii uta_

The shadow's was about to start devouring the humans dissipate one by one while the water demon on stage covering her ears.

_Higashi no sora he to habataku toritachi__  
__Saa takarajima ni nukeru chikamichi._

The soldiers rushing towards the Mermaid Princesses dissipate while the remaining Air soldier are headed towards the water demon on stage dissipates as well.

_Nanatsu no umi no rakuen__  
__Arashi no yoru no ato ni wa ai wo tsutaeru tame inochi ga mata umareru__  
__Nanatsu no kuni no MERODIA__  
__Daremo ga itsuka wa koko wo tabidatsu hi ga kitemo__  
__Watashi wa wasurenai_

Ones they finish singing three of them say "Love Shower Peach!" then "How about an Encore?"

The water demon shouted "I don't know what's happening but I won't forgive you! " then she disappeared from stage. The Three noticed the captive heart floating into the air and vanished out of sight. Lucia, Hanon, and even Rina wondering about that.

Attis explain to them, "When a Heartless is defeated it releases a stolen heart." The three turned their Attention to Attis who is sitting in stage.

The three Mermaid Princesses were confused by that as Lucia said, "Stolen Heart?" Attis continued explaining, "Yes, hearts is the source of all emotions. Every time you sing a song to the heartless releases a stolen heart that they devoured from humans." Hanon asked, "What happened to all the hearts that disappeared?" Attis replied, "They return to their original owners." After saying that the three felt relief.

Attis looked at Taro who is still unconscious he thought, 'After everything that happen he still normal huh'. Suddenly he say, "They say listening to music will affect the person's heart and the person playing it they express what's in their heart. It seems the singing of the Mermaid Princesses releases the hearts that shrouded in darkness." The three listen to the words he say which they give meaning.

Then he suddenly laughed a bit and said, "Looks like the Mermaid Princesses are in the arms of destiny just what you expect from beings of the light." The words he said now cause the three to wonder. Rina first to asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" he replied, "You'll find out on your own. After all you are a Mermaid Princess."

Attis looked at Rina with a curious look in her face he said, "Oh, My name is Xaitts Green Mermaid Princess if you want to know for further details asked your friends" After that he used the corridor of darkness to teleport himself out of the hall.

Then Rina began asking some questions to Lucia and Hanon.

He teleported his way back to the hallway, and entered the nearby washroom to change. By the time he got back out he saw that all the people who were under the influence started to stir. When Attis reached the foyer, he saw that most of the people were up already, confused by what just happened.

Soon, he saw Lucia and Hanon walk out, carrying Taro between them, and Hanon having a grin on her face. Attis walked over to them asking, "What happened to Mitsuki-san?"

As both Lucia and Hanon laid Taro down on a nearby couch Hanon said, "Mitsuki-sensei suddenly collapsed back in the hall." Lucia looked at Attis and asked, "What about you Attis-san?"

Attis scratched his head and said, "Well, I had to bar myself in a closet since the employees started acting like zombies, unfortunately." Both Lucia and Hanon looked at each other for a moment as Taro started to stir. Most of the people were starting to leave the concert hall as Taro opened his eyes and slowly got up saying, "W-what am I doing…?"

"Sensei, you're awake!" Hanon said with relief. Taro slowly nodded and said, "Yeah…I felt like I was dreaming…" Attis looked at him and said, "Don't worry about it Mitsuki-san. These two ladies found you collapsed in the hallway and they brought you here to recover."

"Really…?" Taro said, still looking a bit disoriented. Attis turned to the girls and said, "I take it that the two of you will take care of Mitsuki-san?" Lucia and Hanon nodded so Attis said, "Okay, I'll see the three of you later then. I have work tomorrow." With a wave, Attis left the concert hall and walked back to his Apartment.

When Attis reached to the exit door he saw Rina about to open it. Attis called out to her, "Rina-san!" Rina looked and saw Attis walking towards her. She asked, "Who are you?"

The moment Attis was right in front of Rina he said her, "I'm Attis Hale but just call me Attis. Do you mind if I ask you something?" Rina seemed slightly puzzled and said, "Uh, okay…"

"Let's see, is there something going on between you and Kaito? The two of you seemed to be in an intense argument earlier today." Attis said. Rina remembered that time and how she also ran right through him. She said, "It's nothing, I mistook him for someone else, that's all. Oh, and I'm sorry for pushing through you like that too."

"It's no problem. At least things between you and Kaito are straightened up." Attis said, "I guess it's understandable you mistook him for someone else."

Rina asked, "How do you know him?" Attis replied, "I met him about a little under a week ago, I think. He's a good guy."

Rina was surprised at that and said, "Yeah you're right." Attis walk pass her decided to head back to his apartment before telling her while waving his hand, "Make sure you clear things up with Kaito tomorrow" She replied, "I know."


	6. Chapter 6 Family

Chapter 5 Family

_Attis' apartment_

Morning Attis eating his breakfast consist of two fried eggs, two pan cakes, one cup of rice, and one medium stake and his drink is one glass of fresh milk he also listen to the TV while eating. He thought while eating, 'Next time I should buy some vegetables' while eating he listened to the TV "How is Momo-chan today Kisato-chan?"

Attis looked at the TV, "Right now, I'm at the aquarium, where the pink dolphin, Momo-chan is recovering after wandering into the bay. Everyone's worried about sick Momo-chan. But when she meets with the other dolphins, she'll get better fast." Attis looked at the baby dolphin on TV as the news continue "Thank you for your time. And after this, some music for you all to enjoy…"

Attis thought. 'Why a baby dolphin wandering on its own….. Must be separated from his family' He continued eating his breakfast until his finished. Then he suddenly remembered, 'Family….I wonder how Onee-san is doing?'

As he finished his breakfast he takes his morning shower, brushing his teeth and getting ready for work.

* * *

_Maki's restaurant_

With Golden Week now underway, work at Maki's restaurant was getting harder for Attis. The number of customers increased, and Attis was pushing himself hard to keep up with the workload. One time he thought to himself, 'Whew, Protecting the Mermaid Princesses is easier than this!'

To his surprise, he was quite popular with the female customers, and it took him all of his wit and willpower to stay calm and collected. Maki watched as he worked, looking glad that he made the right choice in hiring him.

It was now the middle of the week and thankfully, Attis had the day off, since Maki had some business to take care of again. With that Attis took the chance to visit Pearl Piari to take care of something that he had been putting off for quite a while.

* * *

_Pearl Piari_

Attis opened the door to Pearl Piari and called out, "Hello? Is anyone here?" At that moment, Nikora's voice replied, "Yes, just please wait a moment!" Then Nikora herself appeared rushing over. When she saw Attis she said, "Oh, Attis-kun. This is a pleasant surprise. Did you need something?"

"Uh, yes actually, is Taki-san around?" Attis asked. A moment later Taki appeared asking, "Did someone call me?"

"Oh, Taki-san, hello." Attis said. Taki looked at him and said, "Oh, if it isn't Attis-san. Since you called out to me I'm guessing that you're here for a fortune?" Attis smirked and said, "Yes, but first I wanted to thank you for the last fortune. It came true, though not in a way that I expected."

Nikora looked quite surprised at that, and Taki gave a small smirk and said, "I see… Well, if you would follow me please." Attis followed Taki into the dark room with Nikora thinking, 'That was a surprise, one of Taki's predictions actually coming true… Well, I'd better get back to work.'

Inside the dark room, Attis was again sitting across from Taki, while Taki was looking into her crystal orb. There was a moment of silence before Taki said, "Beware of anglerfish. You should not provoke them and it seems it has friends… Hm? I also see the aquarium…maybe something there is waiting for you… That's all I can see for now…"

Attis was silent for a bit and then he said, "Okay…I guess that's it then." Attis took out his wallet and Taki told him the price of the telling, which he found reasonable. After paying the fee the two of them got out, and Taki led Attis to the door saying, "Have a good day Attis-san."

A wave came from Attis and said, "Thank you Taki-san, and good day to you too." Then he left the hotel leaving Taki by herself. She thought, 'I might as well check on Lucia and Hanon, and see what they're doing.'

* * *

_Beachside_

Walking down the beach in though, Attis wondered about the anglerfish part. To him it sounded a bit weird but decided to be on guard for today for any surprises. Figuring that the Heartless only show up to those who has strong hearts like the Mermaid Princesses then consume them to create more Heartless, he sighed and relaxed as he walked down the beach.

Along the way he noticed Kaito floating in the water, and he also noticed that he walked quite the way while in thought. Taking a better look, Attis saw that there was a pale pink dolphin with him, looking quite frantic about something. So Attis called out to Kaito shouting, "Oi Kaito, is something the matter?"

Kaito turned around and saw Attis standing near the beach. He said, "Oh Attis, it's nothing. Just that this dolphin came up to me and tried to tell me something." Attis looked at the dolphin, he thought, 'it seems the dolphin pleading for help'.

Kaito asked the dolphin, "What's wrong? You look sad" The Dolphin with a sad expression pointed her nose to the Blue Building. Kaito looked at the blue building that the dolphin pointed he asked, "Is something there?" As he looked he asked, "Did something happen there?" The dolphin looked at the blue building.

Kaito suddenly decided to get out of the ocean. Attis notice Kaito get out of the ocean with a serious expression. He walked up to him and asked, "Is something a matter?"

Kaito just shrugged and said, "I'm not sure… but have you heard on T.V. that there is a baby dolphin name Momo-chan being taken at the Aquarium." Attis replied, "Yeah, I watch it on TV this morning" Suddenly Attis pause a bit then he looked at the dolphin with a sad expression he thought, 'Could it be this dolphin is Momo-chan's Mother'

"Hmm, I see… You want to check it out with me Kaito?" Attis asked. Kaito nodded and said, "Sure, just let me get changed first." With that, Kaito walked off to a nearby shack that looked abandoned. As Attis waited he thought, 'Hmm, maybe what Taki was saying when she referred to something waiting for me at the aquarium meant the baby dolphin?'

As Attis continued to think, Kaito came back out of the shack in his regular clothes and without his surfboard. He poked Attis on the shoulder and said, "Let's get going." Attis noticed that Kaito didn't have his surfboard and his other things with him and figured that they were still in the shack. He asked while pointing to the shack, "Is it alright to just leave your stuff in there?"

"It's fine, no one uses that shack anymore anyway, and I hid my things just in case." Kaito replied with confidence. Attis just shrugged at that as the two of them walked over to the aquarium building that was nearby.

* * *

_Aquarium_

Inside the aquarium, both Attis and Kaito looked at the map and found the pool where Momo was being kept. Attis looked at Kaito and said, "You go on ahead to the pool Kaito, I want to check out the place a bit first." Kaito nodded and the two went their separate ways.

Finding the aquarium quite big and having a vast amount of fish and other aquatic creatures, Attis wondered if there was something else waiting for him here. He shook his head and thought, 'I shouldn't think about it so much, when or if it happens, it happens, so stop thinking about it so much.'

Soon, Attis passed by the penguin pool and saw an odd sight. A huge penguin was surrounded by a number of other penguins, and in the penguin's arms was another penguin that was wearing a tux. The penguin in the tux looked a bit ragged and seemed to be squirming quite a bit.

As Attis took a closer look he thought, 'Is it just me, or is the penguin in the tux actually Lucia's pet Hippo?' Squinting his eyes a bit, he saw that it was indeed Hippo in the middle of something that he didn't want to think about. Giving one last look at the penguin pool, Attis quickly ran off to another part of the aquarium.

Deciding to head to Momo's pool, he saw Hanon and Rina together staring out at the fish behind the glass. He called out to them, "Oh, Hanon-san? Rina-san?" The two turned around to see Attis walking forward towards them. He saw the somber looks on their faces and thought, 'I wonder what they were thinking about…'

Hanon was the first one to say, "Oh, Attis-san, did you come here to see Momo-chan too?" Attis nodded and said, "Yeah, I heard about it from Kaito, and came here with him. The two of us split up at the entrance since I wanted to take a look around the aquarium first."

That's when Attis said, "Oh yeah, I think Kaito and I met Momo-chan's mother earlier. It's the reason why I'm here in the first place." Hanon and Rina looked surprised at that and Rina asked, "Is that true?!"

Attis nodded and said, "Yeah, actually she should be waiting right outside the aquarium. We saw her swim off towards this place after trying to tell us." Both Hanon and Rina looked at each other and Attis asked, "By the way, did something happen? The two of you had sad faces when I saw you."

The two girls were silent for a bit and Attis quickly said, "I'm sorry if I touched on something private. I won't say anymore." Hanon shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it Attis-san."

Suddenly the three of them heard shouting coming from the exhibition pool and Attis had a bad feeling about it. Hanon and Rina looked at each other and Rina said, "Sorry Attis-san, but there's something the two of us have to do."

As the two of them ran off, Attis pretended to be surprised at that and shouted, "Wait a minute!" When the two vanished from his sight he thought to himself, 'I'd better get going too. The feeling I have is getting stronger…'

Attis quickly made his way towards the pool where Momo was being held, and when he got there all he could find was Kaito standing by the pool. Attis ran over to it and saw a pink baby dolphin inside. Kaito noticed his approach and asked, "Hey Attis, do you know what's going on?"

"Sorry Kaito, I'm not too sure myself." Attis said. Then he focused on the baby dolphin in the tank and thought, 'So this must be Momo-chan.'

Then he turned to Kaito and asked, "Were you with anyone Kaito?" He nodded and replied, "Lucia was with me, but she ran off somewhere, telling me to keep an eye on Momo-chan."

Attis nodded and said, "I see…" Then, Attis ran off saying, "I have something to take care of, so don't worry about it." Attis turned the corner and vanished from Kaito's sight before he could say anything. All he could think about was how weird things were turning out, and what the screams were all about.

In a deserted hallway, Attis changed into his usual black coat attire and made his way to the exhibition pool. Staying out of sight he saw a water dragon rising at the pool, he thought, 'It must be a Water Demon coming from the pool. I should just use the corridor of darkness to teleport myself under the pool.'

He teleport himself under the pool, He thought, 'It's a good thing I wear my necklace every time since it always involve in underwater.' Then he saw the Water Demon Izuru far from here. "I won't allow this any further!" also the Three Mermaid Princesses swimming towards her.

The three mermaids confronted the water demon. Lucia said, "So, it was you after all" Hanon continued, "We'll be your opponents!" Rina confidently, "You'd best be prepared"

"I'll take you all to Gaito-sama as a gift" Izuru replied confidently and ready to capture the three. Suddenly a huge fish appeared behind Izuru. The Lucia, Hanon, and Rina noticed this so does Attis.

Attis recognized the giant fish, 'Isn't that an Aquatank?' Izuru noticed the huge fish behind her back. She shouted furiously, "Get out of the way" She summoned a whirlpool in her hand to push the Aquatank away. Attis shook his head and sigh, 'She shouldn't have done that' He decided to swim towards them.

Attis swim nearly between them and said to Izuru, "You shouldn't have done that". Izuru and the Three Mermaid Princesses notice him. She replied to the Black Cloaked figure, "Why should I?!" Then he pointed his finger to the direction were the Aquatank being push and told her, "Look behind you."

Izuru tilt her head as she looked behind and saw the huge fish she push out of the way is heading towards her while bringing some friends along. The Mermaid Princesses saw it also.

Attis look at the Aquatank bringing along six Screwdrivers headed towards Izuru. He thought, 'Aqua tanks are fish-like Heartless that lazily wanders the sea. They are often carrying Screwdivers. And also they do not attack unless provoked.' Suddenly he remembered Taki's fortune about angler fish, 'Then again Aquatanks really do resembles Angler fish'

The Aquatank start attacking izuru by biting. But Izuru managed dodge from the Aquatank's jaw. She shouted furiously, "I don't know what you are but don't' get in my way!" She tried to summon a water dragon but three Screwdrivers manage to surround her which forces her to use a whirlpool around her for defense.

The three Mermaid Princesses are confused as they look at the scene. Lucia asked, "So are the heartless our allies now?" Unexpectedly one of the Screwdriver's trident thrown directly at Lucia without her noticing it. Hanon and Rina notice this as they about to shout but Attis caught it in time with his right hand. Attis said, "Is this answer your question" Lucia looked in shock as the trident that thrown at her is nearly a tip on her nose.

Attis look at the other three screwdrivers are headed right at them so he thrown the trident back at the one who's not wielding it causing to impale its head and dissipate. Then he told the three mermaid princesses, "I think you three know what to do in this situation" The three Mermaids nodded together in response.

Three Mermaid Princesses submerged themselves from the pool and then each of them shouted. "Pink Pearl Voice" "Blue Pearl Voice" "Green Pearl Voice".

Attis see the Mermaid Princesses submerged and transform to their idol form. 'They transform in front of an audience?!' He was shock by the unexpected event then he looked at the Heartless that are now focus at Izuru. As Izuru couldn't fight back since she is now on the defensive. He thought, 'Hmm…. It seems she can take care of herself' Then he used the corridor of darkness to teleport himself out of the pool.

He teleport back to entrance of the exhibition pool where he started. Staying out of sight and saw Lucia, Hanon, and Rina surrounded by a bright light in the middle of the pool.

Hanon announce at the audience, "Everybody, thank you all so much for waiting! This is the Golden Week's special program. The Pichi Pichi Voice Seaside Live Concert!"

Attis heard one of the audience say, "Ohh, it's an idol concert!" Attis observed the audience reactions he thought and sigh, 'They think this is part of the show.'

The three Mermaids shouted together, "Enjoy the Pichi Pichi Voice!"

_Kiite mune no hajikete tobichiru nan darou Furete mune no chiisaku moeteru atsui honou konna kimochi hajimete na no yo_

Attis saw Lucia was the one singing with Hanon and Rina giving support, and the song Lucia was singing was new to him, so he listened with interest. He then observed the audience reaction that they are enjoying it.

_Utaidashitara tomaranai odoridashitara tomaranai Modorenai magarenai suki ni narazu ni irenai_

_Aoi umi ni oyogu SANGO no himitsu tsugeru koi wo shitta no Atashi motto utaitsudzukeru kono mune no tokimeki wo ageru_

Lucia shouted, "Love Shower Pitch!" Then together with Rina and Hanon, "How about an encore?" After hearing that Attis saw Hearts submerge from the pool and disappear. The Audience responded by applauding them. He thought, 'Looks like the Heartless are gone so does the Water Demon.' Lucia continued singing.

_Kiite mune no sasayaki atteru nan darou Wakaru? Mune no tokimeki nureteru nagai kami to sonna kimochi wakatteru deshou_

_Miteiru dake ja tsumaranai matteru dake ja kidzukanai Susumenai IYA ja nai konya futari de neyou yo._

_Fukai umi ni nemuru shinju no himitsu tsugeru yume wo miyou Atashi kitto koi shitsudzukeru kono KOKORO naninokamo ageru_

Eventually the song came to an end, and everyone in the crowd cheered the three Princesses. Hanon made another announcement, "And now a special present: little Momo-chan's mother!"

Momo's mother came jumping into the pool, with Momo suddenly appeared from the pool being reunited with his mother. Everyone applauded and found it quite touching, even the Three Mermaid Princesses.

Rina looked at the scene with a smile on her face felling glad, "Thank goodness" so does Hanon , "You got to see mom again" even Lucia "This time, the encore will be… mom's lullaby, I guess."

In the Entrance of the exhibition pool Attis looked at the scene with a smile on his face even it is hidden under his hood.

Later the staff announced that the aquarium would be closing, and everyone made their way to the exits.

He dematerialized his coat and decided see were Kaito is. He heard Kaito calling his name and Lucia's name. He walked up where Kaito is. Suddenly Attis stopped for the moment when he heard Lucia voice calling Kaito's name. He decided to hide in the sidelines of the corner and he managed to take a peek. He saw Kaito staring at the Aquarium and he heard Lucia's voice in the Aquarium he thought, 'It seems Lucia is in her Mermaid form' He continue to observed but decided not to, 'Nah. Its better I should just go home. I don't want to disturbed their quality time.'

Attis showed up in his regular attire to the exit, seeing Hanon and Rina with Hippo, who looked like was mauled from top to bottom, his tux not looking in its best condition. Attis couldn't help but laugh quietly at the scene as he approached and said, "Hey, Hanon-san, Rina-san!"

The two turned to see Attis and Rina said, "Oh Attis-san, sorry for running off like that." Attis waved it off saying, "Don't worry about it, I'm more concerned with what happened to Hippo over there."

As Attis pointed to Hippo, the penguin looked like he was on the verge of bawling out right there and now. Hanon and Rina looked at each other with smug looks on their faces before Hanon told him, "Let's just say that he had quite the time at the penguin pool."

Hippo seemed to quiver at that as Attis said, "Quite the time huh? I don't think that's what I would call it. I did pass by penguin pool earlier, and seeing what I saw, let's just say its better off forgetting about it, right Hippo?" At that point Hippo started bawling and Attis whispered to them, "I'd probably be like that too if I was manhandled the way he was."

Both Hanon and Rina raised an eyebrow at that when Attis said, "Well, I'd better get going, I'll see the two of you later, and say hi to Lucia and Kaito for me if you see them." Attis then walked with the crowd out of the aquarium, leaving Hanon, Rina, and a bawling Hippo by themselves.

* * *

_Attis' apartment_

Later that night, Attis was back in his apartment, he decided to watch some T.V. when there was a knock on his door.

Going over to see who it was, Attis opened the door and found a deliveryman waiting outside. The deliveryman said, "Package for Attis Hale." Attis nodded and said, "That's me."

The deliveryman gave him a huge package and produced a form for him saying, "Signature or stamp please." Attis took the pen from the deliveryman and signed the form, with the deliveryman saying, "Thank you very much." Then the deliveryman bowed and left, leaving Attis with the huge package.

Taking it inside, Attis looked at it and saw that it said on the box that it was already paid for. Knowing that he didn't actually buy anything by package, he opened it carefully, and was surprised to see twenty potions, ten Hi-potions, five Elixirs and twenty ethers inside. He noticed a letter is inside the box decided to take it and read.

* * *

Dear Attis

I heard from Xenon and Xolla that you'll be protecting the Mermaid Princesses alone. So I hope the items that sent will be enough for you. But knowing how strong you are I think you'll be doing fine since I'm the one who raise you.

Love, Big Sis

* * *

After reading the letter he smiled and thought 'Looks like Onee-san knows my current situation. But how does she know that I'm here even Xelon and Xolla didn't know' He continue thinking and finally knows while sighing. 'It must be Clarabell Mcdowel. Even though she's whimsical she is also resourceful and top of that she is also a friend of Onee-san.'


	7. Chapter 7 Light on the Blizzard

Chapter 7 Light on the Blizzard

_Maki's restaurant_

It was another day at Maki's restaurant, with Attis having his shift just ending. With the end of Golden Week, business started to ease up, though Attis still had to work hard due to the more than usual amount of customers. In the staff room Attis was preparing to leave when Maki came in and said, "Good work today Attis." Attis nodded and said, "Thank you very much Maki-san."

That's when Maki asked him, "You told me that you moved here just recently right? Do you know about the legend of the mermaid cave?" Attis looked at him and said, "Mermaid cave?"

Maki nodded and said, "It's a local legend around here. The story goes at how long ago; a mermaid fell in love with a human. Then a storm came up and the human was caught up in it. The mermaid revealed herself to him and using a candle, the mermaid led the man to a cave for shelter."

Attis found that story quite interesting and Maki saw it on Attis' face. He went on to say, "The cave the mermaid led the human to is usually underwater most of the year. However tomorrow the tide will drop and anyone will be able to enter." Attis asked, "I assume there's a purpose for that?"

A nod came from Maki and said, "They say now that if you burn an entire candle with your name and your partner's name on it, without the flame dying, and is kept inside the cave, mutual love will flourish." Attis looked at Maki as if he was crazy and asked, "When did they start saying that?"

Maki just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't really know, since it's been like that for as long as I remember." Attis got up and said, "Well, thanks for the info Maki-san, but I bet that story is more geared towards girls, isn't it?"

"Haha, yes it is." Maki said as he waved Attis off. Attis nodded and left the restaurant, thinking about the story. As he walked he thought, 'I wonder if that story's true since mermaids do actually exist.'

As Attis walked along the beachside, he found a storage hut and felt sleepy all of a sudden. He went over to the hut and opened the door, surprised to find it open. Suddenly, dark clouds started to form and he thought, 'Oh no, it looks like it's going to rain. Better get inside.'

Inside the hut, Attis went behind a few boxes and sat down, waiting for the storm to pass. All of a sudden he heard the door open again and heard two people walk in. From the voices he heard, Attis recognized them as Lucia and Kaito, and thought, 'Lucia and Kaito? Guess they ran here for shelter.' Attis decided to ignore them, and he went back to his thoughts.

Silence continued throughout the room, with Lucia and Kaito in front of a makeshift fire, having not noticed that Attis was in the room. That's when Attis heard Kaito say something about seeing a girl he knew in Lucia, and Attis thought, 'Is he talking about Lucia's mermaid form?'

That's when Lucia started saying things that sounded quite spiteful, and Attis guessed that Kaito was mad at that. That's when he heard a slam and a squeak from Lucia, and Attis had to take a look to see what was going on. Carefully looking over the boxes, Attis saw Kaito holding Lucia up against the wall, with Kaito looking quite angry. That's when he heard Lucia say, "Even though you always think about her, she can't possibly exist! It's weird! You're weird Kaito-!"

This surprised Attis a bit but what really caught him off guard was when he saw Kaito kiss Lucia in the middle of her speech. Attis quickly ducked down, not really wanting to see that sort of thing. Then he heard Lucia shout, "No!" and then there was a slapping noise, which Attis assumed that Lucia slapped Kaito.

There was a moment of silence, then Attis decided to speak up saying, "Okay you two, it's time to break it up."

Attis' sudden voice surprised the heck out of Lucia and Kaito as Attis himself got up and walked from behind the boxes. Kaito asked him, "How long have you been here?" Attis answered him, "I've been here before you two came in Kaito."

That's when the rain started to clear up and Attis walked towards the door saying, "Don't worry, I won't say anything about what just happened here." Then Attis opened the door and promptly walked out, leaving Lucia and Kaito by themselves.

Soon after, as Attis walked down the beach, Kaito caught up with him saying, "Wait up Attis!" Attis turned around and said, "Oh, Kaito…"

That's when Kaito asked something that caught Attis slightly off guard, "Could I talk to you about something?" Attis was silent at that before he replied, "Uh, sure…I guess…"

Kaito seemed relieved at that and said, "Let's head to my place then." Attis nodded and followed Kaito over to his house. As they walked Attis couldn't help but think, 'I wonder if this is about what happened back there.'

* * *

_Kaito's house_

When they reached Kaito's house he saw that it was quite the place. That's when they went up to the front door and Kaito opened it. The two of them went in and Attis took a quick look around at the place. The inside reminded Attis of Taro's place a bit, and that's when Attis noticed something and asked, "You live alone?"

"Yeah…how did you know?" Kaito said. Attis just said, "The place has that kind of feel. I should know, since I live by myself too." Kaito asked him, "Where are you're parents?"

Attis twitched a bit at that before he replied, "Don't know, But I have an older sister and she's the one who raised me." Kaito winced at that and said, "I see." Attis shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. What about you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Died in an accident." Kaito said shortly. Attis nodded and said, "Sorry to hear that Kaito." The two went over to the living room and sat down in chairs. That's when Kaito asked out of the blue, "Before I say anything, I need to ask: do you believe in mermaids?"

Attis was silent for a bit and Kaito was expecting Attis to say no. To his surprise, Attis' response was, "Sure I do. I mean, Even their only just stories but I still believe they exist." Seeing how calmly Attis replied, Kaito was thrown off guard for a second. Then he recovered and said with relief, "I see…"

Seeing the look on Kaito's face, Attis asked, "I'm guessing this is about what happened between you and Lucia earlier?" Kaito nodded and said, "It's just what she said just made me so mad, saying that she doesn't exist…" Deciding to let that slide, Attis went on, "And what about the kiss? I don't think you did that just to shut her up."

Kaito sighed and said, "I-I don't know what came over me that time. I guess some things just came out when she kept on talking…" Attis sighed and said, "Okay, I'd admit that Lucia did say some unnecessary things," 'Considering that who she was berating was herself from what I can gather.' Attis added as a thought, "But I think you shouldn't have said those things in the beginning. I think they set her off somehow, but I'm not sure about that."

Again, Kaito sighed and said, "Well, I saw the singing girl I met in Lucia earlier, and I guess I wasn't thinking too clearly when I said it."

Rubbing his head, Attis had no clue had to help. Not an expert on things like relationships, all he could say was, "I don't know exactly what to tell you, but all I can say now is give it some time. When things calm down, why don't you apologize to her? I'm sure Lucia's feeling bad about what she said to you Kaito."

Kaito seemed to look a bit better, and that's when Attis got up and said, "Don't worry about it too much Kaito." That's when he made his way to the door, until Kaito called out to him asking, "Attis, have you ever been in a relationship?"

Attis shook his head while saying, "No, I haven't actually… But its impossible for me" Kaito felt something in Attis' tone of voice which was emotionless but he couldn't tell what it was as Attis said, "Sorry, but I gotta run Kaito. I'll see you later."

"Uh, sure. See you later Attis." Kaito said. He heard Attis give a sigh as he left the house and thought, 'I wonder what happened to him…?'

* * *

_Beachside road_

Later, Attis headed to his apartment after doing a bit of research about the Mermaid Cave legend. He didn't get much out of it, as what he found was what Maki already told him, and what he mainly heard was the part about burning an entire candle. There were not many specifics about the legend itself, and no one seemed to know more than that. So he headed to his apartment after the fruitless search, then he saw Lucia and Rina sitting together at the beach.

Attis decided to walk up to them. He also hear them discussing about Kaito and Mermaid Cave. So he call them, "Lucia-san, Rina-san" Lucia and Rina heard Attis' voice they turned and saw Attis standing at behind them.

Lucia said, "Oh, hi there Attis-san." So does Rina, "Hi there Attis-san." Attis eyed Rina for a second and saw that part of her shirt was ruffled up, so he asked, "Did something happen? Your shirt's a bit ruffled up." She looked down and saw the spot where Lucia cried a bit ruffled. She told him, "Ah, it's nothing, just something that happened to Lucia over here…"

Taking a wild guess, he said, "I'm guessing it involves Kaito, didn't it?" Lucia blushed and Rina seemed surprised at that and said, "How did you know?!"

Attis replied while smirking, "It's quite obvious from the beginning that Lucia-san likes Kaito. Isn't that right Lucia-san" He looked at Lucia with a smirk on his face knowing everything causing Lucia to blush even more. Then he assured her, "Don't worry I won't tell him" Lucia relax a bit.

Thinking about it for a second, Attis decided to tell Rina what happened back at the hut, yet sounding a bit subdued. He left out the part about the talk between him and Kaito, while Rina looked quite surprised at the fact that Attis was there to begin with; she looked beside Lucia had already heard most of the story from herself. Instead she asked, "So, you just left?"

"Pretty much…I would've liked to help you Lucia-san if I could, but I have no experience of love, relationships and such." Attis told Lucia. Then she got curious and asked, "So you've never been in a relationship Attis-san?"

Attis closed his eyes and gave a sigh saying, "Yeah, I never experience it or more like it's impossible to experience it" As he said that Lucia thought, 'What was with that emotionless look on his eyes…? And the tone of his voice I don't sense any emotions' Rina has the same thought as Lucia.

Attis decided to head back to his apartment before telling Lucia, "Make sure you and Kaito clear things up so I'll see you two later." As Attis left while waving his right hand and headed to back his Apartment.

Lucia and Rina were still wondering about that look he gave them. Lucia spoke up, "I wonder what happened to Attis-san." Rinal replied to her, "I wonder he might experience something in his life."

* * *

_Mermaid Cave_

"Hmm, what am I doing here exactly?" Attis asked himself. The next day, Attis had made his way over to the Mermaid cave after finishing work. He got the directions from Maki after work and made his way over to the cave out of curiosity. When he got there all he found were a whole bunch of girls coming in and out of the cave.

Over at the entrance Attis saw Lucia, Hanon, and Rina go in and thought, 'Why am I not surprised?' That's when he heard Kaito's voice say, "Attis? What are you doing here?"

Attis turned around to see Kaito walking up to him. He replied, "Just curious about the Mermaid Cave, though I starting to wonder what I'm doing here… I take it you're looking for Lucia?" Kaito nodded and Attis told him, "I saw her, Hanon-san, and Rina-san go into the cave just now. She'll probably be out in a few minutes or so."

"I see…" Kaito said. Looking around a bit more, Attis said, "Hmm, I think that I'll get going now, I'm not sure why I even came here in the first place. I'll see you later Kaito."

"Yeah, see you later." Kaito replied. Attis left the area thinking to himself, thinking that he might as well head back to his apartment for now. However, he didn't get too far when suddenly a fierce wind started to blow and it started to look like a blizzard. Attis thought to himself, 'This is definitely not normal I'd better check it out.'

Changing into his black cloak, Attis made his way back to the Mermaid Cave, only to see the other girls running away in the opposite direction. The storm got even fiercer as Attis got closer. That's when he saw a flash of light from above and thought, 'Hmm, nice sign.'

As Attis reached the place, he saw the three Mermaid Princesses confronting a woman in a pale blue dress and having pale blond hair in front of them, which Attis figured was a water demon. Making sure he wasn't seen he only observed.

"You finally appeared, Mermaid Princesses" The Water Demon smiled confidently. Lucia with a serious expression said, "Everyone put their wishes into the candles inside this cave! I won't let your way!" The Water Demon replied with a mocking attitude, "Wishes? Love won't ever be fulfilled? What crap!"

"What crap, you say!? I dare you to tease us again!" Lucia angered by the water demons insults. The water demon mockingly, "I'll say it as much as you want... It's crap! It's crap!" Then she attacked them by summoning icicle like daggers. The Mermaid Princesses are about to brace themselves but suddenly Attis intervene quickly by materialized his Xatana in his right hand and then perform high speed sword slashes in every direction to block and cut the icicle like daggers in front of him.

The Water Demon was stunned by the Hooded Black Coated figure in front of her she thought, 'So this is the Black Coat person that Izuru and the others mentioned.' The Mermaid Princesses were glad for his appearance.

Attis looked at the Water Demon then he turn his attention to the three Mermaid Princesses then asked, "Are you three alright?" Lucia replied, "We're okay thanks to you Xaitts-san"

Then he observed his whole surroundings then he looked at the water demon and said with a mocking attitude, "Looks like this snow fairy is the cause of this snow storm." The Water Demon replied arrogantly, "And what of it?" Then he replied, "Hmm, for a snow fairy you're quite confident of yourself"

The water demon boast her arrogance, "Well yes and don't call me snow fairy my name is Maria and I will captured the Mermaid Princesses for Gaito-sama" As she is ready for another attack.

Attis thought, 'Gaito-sama? It must be their leader.' Then he say to Maria with serious tone, "It's seems you want to fight me even you don't know what I'm capable of…..very well."

Attis said with a dark emotionless tone, "I wonder, should I sliced you" then he raised his left hand while whispering 'Dark Fira' a huge ball of Dark Flames appeared in the palm of his hand and say, "Or Should I Burn you."

The Water Demon Maria noticed the Black Coated figure display his murderous intent. It was so intense that it sent chills right down her spine. She was standing their frozen in fear and look at him and thought, 'I..I can't move. What on earth is he?!' She continue to look at the Black Coated figure and notice that even his face is hidden by the hood of his coat but she saw his eyes were glowing displaying his intent to kill.

The three Mermaid Princesses behind him felt his murderous intent. They become a bit fearful of him since they only know little about him.

But suddenly he cancel his Dark Fira spell on his left hand then he say lazily, "There is no point for me to fight someone as weak as you so the mermaid princesses will be enough for you."

Maria and the three Mermaid Princesses were surprised by his change of attitude and his murderous intent disappeared. Then Attis felt something as he looked at the sky and say, "Looks like you're not the only one who loves to make snow."

Maria and The three Princesses notice a huge shadow covering them as they look at the sky they saw obese, humanoid Heartless, but its actual upper body is rather thin. Its real body is dark-colored and almost entirely enveloped in a translucent, blue, icy shell that makes it appear much heavier. Only the Heartless's face is left uncovered, exposing its spherical, pitch-black head and glowing, yellow eyes. The top of its head is decorated by several crystals made of ice. It wears a flowing, light blue cape that attaches to a thick, black and light blue-striped collar, secured by a red, circular gem. It also wears silver bracelets and a thick, gold necklace. Its lower body is covered by baggy, black pants with blue, zig-zagging patterns decorating the legs. Its feet are light blue and very small. Also wears a thick, silver belt decorated by four red gems and the Heartless symbol in its center. It carried a navy blue staff with ornate, light blue ice crystals decorating both ends.

As they continue staring at the huge heartless Hanon asked, "Is that a Heartless?" Attis replied, "Yes, that thing is called a Blizzard Lord a heartless has the ability to control Ice." He observed his surrounding the snow has start increasing and he felt it's getting colder due to the Blizzard Lord's appearance.

Maria observed his surroundings with a smiled on her face and said, "I don't know what that thing is but the way that thing thus to this place I feel like have the upper hand." Then Attis shook his head and thought, 'I'm not too sure about that.'

Attis notice the Blizzard Lord swing his staff toward the three Mermaid Princesses but a barrier appeared around them to block the attack and causes to bounce back but leaving a crack. But it suddenly blows breath with ice from its mouth in its surrounding causing everything to freeze. Attis manage to dodge the incoming attack.

The Water Demon Maria didn't mind the cold atmosphere since she's immune to ice. But the Blizzard Lord swing it's staff toward Maria but she manage to evade the attack. She shouted, "Hey who side are you on!"

"The Heartless are beings born from darkness, they are mindless and act on instinct, their only goal is to find hearts, and consume them to create more Heartless" Attis explain while Maria and the three Mermaid Princesses listen to his words.

The Blizzard Lord is about to blow another ice breath but "Dark Fira" Attis shot a great ball of Dark Flames at the heartless causing it burn in black flames. Attis shout, "Now Mermaid Princesses or this place will turn into a frozen wasteland!"

Lucia nodded and said with seriousness, "Everyone's trying to make their love work out! I won't forgive those who laugh and interfered! I will not lose to someone who bullies love! Let's cheer them on with a Pichi Pichi Voice!"

_Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete tooi misaki wo mezashiteta_

Lucia began singing the snow storm stop and began sunny. "My wind stopped…"Maria was shock and she started covering her ears just like the other water demons. As for the Blizzard Lord it still burning by the fire ball that Attis thrown at it and began shaking in pain.

_Yoake mae kikoeta MERODII__  
__Sore wa totemo natsukashii uta_

Hanon and Rina joined singing together with Lucia. Attis noticed a beam of light began shine out of the huge hole at the side were Maria stands. And also he observed his whole surroundings that the snow caused by Maria and the Blizzard Lord started to disappear.

_Higashi no sora he to habataku toritachi__  
__Saa takarajima ni nukeru chikamichi._

_"What is this light?" Maria was astonished by the light so does Attis._

_Nanatsu no umi no rakuen__  
__Arashi no yoru no ato ni wa ai wo tsutaeru tame inochi ga mata umareru__  
__Nanatsu no kuni no MERODIA__  
__Daremo ga itsuka wa koko wo tabidatsu hi ga kitemo__  
__Watashi wa wasurenai_

"No Gaito-sama!" Maria shouted and the Blizzard Lord dissipates releasing a captive heart and disappeared.

As they finish singing Lucia shouted, "Love Shower Pitch!" Then together with Rina and Hanon, "How about an encore?"

"Damn you, I won't forget this!" Maria shouted with frustration and disappeared.

Lucia says cheerfully, "They realized the burning heat of love, right?"

Attis chuckle a bit and say, "You Mermaid Princesses are quite something. I never thought you will be this capable." Then he thought, 'No wonder the Organization want them.'

The three Mermaid Princesses looked at him and Rina spoke up and asked, "Who are you really? I know that Xaitts isn't you're real name." The three of them were suspicious of 'Xaitts', since his identity was hidden by the hood of his cloaked.

He looked at the three and said, "Sorry but I won't tell you and for the record Xaitts is my current name. All I can tell you this is that I'm here to aid and protect the Mermaid Princesses since the Sea Goddess requested me."

Hanon decided to push it a bit further and asked, "Can we really trust you…? You hide your identity from us." Attis said, "It doesn't matter whether you trust me or not but rest assure you that I'm in your side so don't worry about it." Then he engulfed himself using the corridor of darkness to teleport himself away from them. "Wait we still want answers!" Lucia shouted but Attis vanished.

Lucia sigh and said, "Geez, he disappeared again there are things that I want to ask." Rina nodded and she said, "Yeah, something tells me that he knows everything that's happening " Hanon nodded and say, "Yeah but at least his in our side."

Making sure there was no one around Attis managed to take off his cloak and it vanished as well. He was just in time to see Lucia and Kaito together, and the two of them walked out of the cave together. Attis thought to himself, 'Looks like the two of them made up from the looks of things…' Giving a sigh, Attis making his way to the main street, he headed back to his apartment, giving a sigh at the confrontation between him and three Mermaid Princesses. He thought, 'It's too early for them to know but in time they will know about me and the Organization.'


	8. Chapter 8 Nothing to Gain

Chapter 8 Nothing to Gain

_Attis' apartment_

Giving out a yawn, Attis was watching the news on the TV. That's when he looked over to the ticket that he received from Maki-san earlier today. He said that it was a reward from him for working so hard. It was a ticket for a showing for something called the Mermaid's Eye, a rare gem that was discovered in the North Atlantic Ocean. At first Maki offered the ticket to him, and Attis was a bit skeptical at first, but when he heard about the gem in more detail, Attis accepted it without hesitation.

Wondering if the gem had any possible connections to the mermaids, Attis made plans to see the gem tomorrow, and figured it was worth a look. He then remembered that the mermaids around the sea live in seven separate kingdoms. He remembered the details and thought, 'North Atlantic Ocean Kingdom…..hmm if I recall correctly that's the Green Mermaid Princess Rina's Kingdom… I guess I'll find out tomorrow then'

Attis left his apartment to search for the cruise ship that would be hosting the viewing, since he didn't know exactly where it was. Luckily for him, there were instructions on the ticket that told him where the cruise ship was going to be, so there wasn't a problem.

* * *

_Harbor_

After a long walk, Attis managed to find the place where the cruise ship was docked. When he made a mental note of the place, Attis headed back to his apartment, planning on stopping by a convenience store first. He didn't get too far though, as a couple of thugs approached him and blocked his way. They were leering at Attis, and wondering what they could possibly want, he asked, "Can I help you guys with something?"

One of the thugs replied, "Yeah, by giving us all of your money and valuables!" Attis couldn't believe what he was hearing and said, "What makes you thugs thing I even have any money on me?"

The other thug leered at him and said, "We bet you're loaded, I mean, just look at you!"

Since Attis was only wearing his black jeans, an open black dress shirt, and a brown t-shirt underneath, he couldn't figure out how the thugs came to that conclusion. Attis just shook his head and said, "Whatever you two, I'm outta here." He turned around to go the other way, only to find two more thugs behind him. That's when one of the thugs said, "Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way. Okay guys, let's get him!"

One of the thugs in front of Attis try to punch him with his right hand but Attis blocked it with his left hand and then he used his right hand to punch the thug straight to his face which cause him to fall down unconscious.

The two thugs behind try to attack Attis together but Attis jump and perform a roundhouse kick hit one of the thugs head causing knocking him down and then Attis hit an uppercut at the other thug causing him also to pass out.

The remaining thug look in disbelief as three of his friends where down for the count. He grabbed something in his pocket which it is a knife and held it with his right hand and try to stab Attis at the back.

But Attis see the incoming attack from behind he reacted quickly by grabbing the thug's right wrist with his left hand and then he punch him in the midsection causing the remaining thug to lost unconscious.

Attis standing tall unharmed looking down at the four unconscious thugs he sigh while saying, "There not much of a challenge."

"Then how about me" Suddenly Attis heard a familiar voice as he turned around a gust of wind is blowing right at him. He braced himself but the wind is not ordinary. It manage to cut his skin like a sharp knife and torn his shirt.

Attis covering himself from the wind but he notice a sword swing is about to strike him down but he managed to evade it in harm's way.

The wind stop another sword swing is about to strike him but Attis materialize his xatana to block it. Attis looked at the attacker he recognized that he was wearing the same coat as him he figured that it was one of the members of the Organization when he looked at his weapon it's a large double-edged sword with sharpened hilts. Besides being sharp and strong, the blade resembles the shape of a Nobody emblem.

Attis managed figured out which member is attacking him even the hood of the cloak covering the attacker's face since he recognized the voice and the weapon he says with sarcasm, "It's good to see you again Helsax."

Two blades are lock together Attis manage to kick him in the midsection but Helsax jump back a bit far.

Both of them looked at each other a bit distance. Helsax spoke up, "Hmph… It seems your skills have dwindled" He taken off his hood revealing his face to Attis. His appearance is the same age as Attis with long white hair. He has pointed ears and gold eyes.

Attis scratch his head and said, "Well most the enemies that I encountered are not much of a challenge since the Water Demons are not much of a threat to me and for the Heartless let's just say a the Mermaid Princesses are taken care of them….But."

He looked at Helsax and said "With you being here means that the Organization started to move?" Helsax shook his head and said, "No, The Superior ordered us not to but to observe the seven mermaid princesses capabilities."

Attis raise a brow and said, "Observe? So that means you been sending them only Heartless instead of Nobodies." Helsax replied, "Yes, and don't forget we set a pawn for them to deal with by the way we also know that you been protecting them" Attis widen his eyes as he ready his xatana.

Helsax laugh a bit and said with sarcasm, "Well now I didn't know that you have a heart to protect them" Then his expression change with seriousness and told Attis, "You should just stop pretending that you have a heart! You, me, the twins, and the Organization we're Nobodies we feel nothing. There is nothing for you to gain in this realm even you protect the mermaid princesses the only thing you gain in the end is nothingness."

Attis took a deep breath and said, "You're right, the only thing I'll gain in the end is nothingness but" He charged Helsax head on with xatana in hand while shouting, "I have a promised to keep!" As Helsax ready his sword to fight Attis.

About thirty minutes later, Hanon was passing by, since she was on an errand Nikora sent her on. When she passed the harbor, she though she heard a scuffle sound coming from the place. She looked over to the harbor and thought, 'What was that…?'

Hanon was considering going over to check it out, but decided against it for a couple of reasons, one of which was that she needed to return to Pearl Piari ASAP. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice shout, "Bring it on!"

'That sounded like Attis-san!' Hanon thought. She quickly ran over to the harbor area and tried to locate the sound of what sounded like fighting.

Attis feeling fatigue, his black shirt torn up a bit, and his face dirtied with a scratches in his forehead and his left cheek cause by the opponent's huge sword. The same goes for Helsax feeling fatigue, his black cloak torn up, and his face is also dirtied.

Helsax says while catching his breath and smiled, "Heh. It seems I drew the first blood" He looked at Attis's face is now dripping blood the wounds he caused then he says, "Let's continue this next time when the time comes Xaitts." He engulfed himself by the corridor of darkness and vanished.

Attis dematerialize his xatana feeling the fatigue more he fell down on his knees and sigh. He wiped out the blood on his face using his handkerchief from his pocket.

Hanon arrive and found Attis on his knees breathing heavily and behind him are four fallen thugs, all who looked unconscious.

Attis heard Hanon approaching and he turned to see her standing near a metal crate, looked shocked at the scene. He said casually, "Oh, Hanon-san, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" Hanon said, as she walked over to Attis, "What happened to you?"

Attis pointed over to the fallen thugs as he standing up and walked towards Hanon, "Those guys tried to jump me, but I managed to beat them back." Then he thought, 'In reality I just knock them out in seconds. Then Helsax appears and we fight. But it's a good thing he retreated before Hanon-san arrives.' Taking a closer look, Hanon saw that Attis scratches on his face and said, "You look horrible! Let me take you back to Pearl Piari, so you can get cleaned up."

"…No, it's alright. I can handle myself." Attis said, trying to convince Hanon that he was fine. Hanon was about to say something when she saw one of the thugs get up and sneak towards Attis' back. That made her shout, "Look out!"

In a quick motion, Attis swung around, giving the thug that was about to attack a hard kick to the thug's side, sending him flying into a wall of metal crates, knocking the thug out on impact. Hanon was speechless at that, while Attis sigh then started to wobble a bit and said, "You know, I think I'll take you up on that offer after all Hanon-san…" Then he thought, 'I guess I don't have much of a choice since I can't use some of my healing spells in front of her.'

Hanon seemed to snap out of it when she saw Attis starting to wobble a bit. That's when Attis stood upright and checked his pockets to make sure that his wallet and ticket were all still there. When he found that they were, Attis followed Hanon out of the harbor, with her asking, "Do you need help?"

Attis shook his head saying, "I can walk Hanon-san." Hanon nodded and she led the way to Pearl Piari.

* * *

_Pearl Piari_

By the time Attis and Hanon reached Pearl Piari, Attis could've sworn that his head was aching. When the two reached the hotel's entrance, Hanon turned to Attis, just in time to see a drop of blood fall down Attis' face from his forehead and his left cheek. She screamed and shouted, "Ah, Attis-san! You're bleeding!"

Hanon's scream attracted the attention of Pearl Piari's occupants, as the front door swung open, revealing Lucia, Nikora, Taki, and Hippo at the door. Lucia said, "Hanon why are you-?!" Then she and the others saw Attis in his beaten up state, who just wiped off the blood on his face and said, "Hi everyone."

Nikora quickly ushered the two inside as she asked, "What happened to you Attis-san?" Attis looked at everyone as the door closed behind him and replied, "I got jumped by some thugs down at the harbor. I managed to fight them off though, so it's no big deal." Though he didn't tell them about Helsax or else it will reveal his identity.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Nikora said, "I'm glad to see you're alright at least. Lucia, Hanon, could you two please find the first aid and sewing kits and bring them to me?"

The two girls nodded and they ran off to get the mentioned items, while Nikora brought Attis over to the dining area, with Taki and Hippo following closely behind. When they reached the dining room, Nikora asked, "Could you please take off your shirt Attis-san?"

Attis complied without a word, and took off his black dress shirt, revealing a few more scrapes on his arms. That's when Lucia and Hanon came back with a first aid and sewing kit, as Lucia said, "Here you go, Onee-chan."

"Thank you very much girls." Nikora said, taking the two kits from them. Then she gave the sewing kit and Attis' shirt to Maki and asked, "Could you take care of this Taki-san?" Taki gave a nod and took the two items from Nikora saying, "Of course."

As Taki got started on sewing up Attis' shirt, Nikora turned to Attis and said, "Now, let's get you cleaned up. But if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened back at the harbor?"

Attis gave a sigh, and as Nikora treated him, Attis told everyone what happened at the harbor but he didn't include his battle with Helsax. Hanon added a bit to the story since she was there too, which was surprising to say the least. When Attis was done, Nikora had finished bandaging his head, which he had cut on his forehead that were hidden by his bangs, also his left cheek and there were band-aids on his arms and face. Taki was halfway through sewing up the rips in Attis' shirt, while Nikora got up and said, "I'll go make some tea."

As Nikora got up and left for the kitchen, Lucia and Hanon went over and sat down at the table Attis was sitting at. Lucia looked at Attis in concern and asked, "Are you feeling better Attis-san?"

Attis touched his head a bit and replied, "I'm feeling much better Lucia-san." He sighed and said, "To think, trying to find the ship where the Mermaid's Eye viewing was taking place would lead to something like that…" Hanon looked at him and said, "Mermaid's Eye viewing? You mean that viewing involving a rare gem that's being viewed on a cruise ship?"

"Yeah, that one…You've heard of it?" Attis asked. Hanon nodded and said, "It's been the talk of the town lately." Lucia had no clue what they were talking about and asked, "Mermaid's Eye? What's that?"

Hanon rolled her eyes and said, "It's a viewing on a cruise ship of a rare gem that's being held tomorrow evening. Don't you listen to the news?" Lucia pouted and said, "Well sorry about that!"

Soon, Nikora came back with some tea for everyone, while Taki had finished sewing up Attis' shirt. She got up and walked over to Attis, and handed back his shirt to him saying, "Here you go Attis-san." Attis took the shirt saying, "Thank you Taki-san."

Taki nodded and went back to her seat. Nikora came by and gave everyone tea saying, "If you want, you can stay for the night Attis-san." Attis shook his head lightly and replied, "No, it's alright. I don't think I'll be bothered by those guys again after what I put them through." Hanon nodded and said, "I can vouch for that."

Nikora nodded and went over to the table Taki was sitting at. As Attis drunk the tea he was given, he saw Lucia starting to look depressed and asked, "Something wrong Lucia-san? You don't look like yourself."

At that time, both Nikora and Taki left the room to attend to business, while Lucia decided to tell Attis the entire story of Kaito and the older girl. When she finished Attis said, "So Kaito's been hanging out with an older girl huh? And that's what you're worried about?"

"If you ask me, it looks like he's doing well." Hanon said. Hippo nodded in agreement while Lucia shouted, "This isn't the time to be admiring him!" Attis smirked and asked, "I doubt that Kaito is the type that would go after an older girl though…"

"Eh? What makes you say that Attis-san?" Lucia asked. Attis finished his tea as he replied, "It's just a feeling I get. I really can't see him going after an older girl." Lucia seemed to feel a bit better hearing Attis say that, but she still had doubts in her mind. That's when Hanon said, "You make it sound like you're an expert on this sort of thing Attis-san."

"Ha, no way. I don't know everything, and I'm only seventeen, so I still don't know a lot." Lucia and Hanon seemed surprised at Attis' age as he got up and said, "Thank you for everything girls, and please thank Nikora-san and Taki-san for me too."

Lucia and Hanon got up and escorted Attis to the door, and when he was about to leave, Attis said, "If you ask me, Kaito looks better with you Lucia-san, then some other girl." This earned a blush from Lucia, which made Attis smirk and say, "Well, I'll see the two of you sometime." With that Attis left Pearl Piari, leaving a red Lucia and a curious Hanon.

Attis is heading back to his apartment but he stopped along the way and remembered the words Helsax said to him. He muttered himself, "The only thing I'll gain in the end is nothingness huh. I can't denied that since that's the absolute truth for us Nobodies"

Then he remembered about the pawn Helsax mention. He said to himself. "A pawn huh? In the past during my time in the Organization we manipulate people to do our bidding or to be more precise we tempt people to fall to darkness by telling them to give in to the darkness in their hearts. Ones the Darkness consumes a person we pick up what's left of them or we just throw them away ones they served their usefulness. " As he continue to think he reach a conclusion, "I don't know who's that person is but one thing I know that person hasn't realize that the Organization are pulling the strings."

"It's getting late I should head back" Attis continue walking to his Apartment.

* * *

_Cruise ship – viewing hall_

The next evening, Attis was in the viewing hall looking at the Mermaid's eye; a green gem that sparkled in the light unfortunately he was on the middle of the crowd to see it. Attis was eyeing the gem he thought about it, 'Hmm, why do I feel a bit of magical energy coming from the gem? Is it really related to the Mermaid Princesses?'

As Attis continue to look at the gem he noticed Rina is in the front row staring at the gem he thought, 'Looks like Rina-san showed up earlier than I thought. Then again she is the Green Mermaid Princess of North Atlantic Ocean Kingdom.'

Rina looked at it. 'So it was the one from my country.' Her thoughts drifted back to her kingdom

Suddenly the power on the ship was cut, putting out most of the lights. Everyone was in a panic, until they saw the Mermaid's Eye being stolen by Eriru. Although, her beating the guards at the viewing so easily made Attis really wonder about the security of the place. That's when he saw Rina run out of the room after Eriru and Attis made his way to another part of the ship.

When Attis got changed, he made his way to the deck and looked into the water. He looked down and thought, 'Ugh, a long way down, but there's not much choice. The person that stole the gem was a water demon.' With that Attis jumped into the water and tried to see where the demon swam off to, but since it was night, it was hard to see.

Suddenly he heard a very loud noise coming from a place nearby and said, "What's with the racket?" Attis was about to swim over to the source when Hanon appeared beside him saying, "Xaitts-san? What are you doing here?"

"A water demon stole the Mermaid's Eye." Attis said, "Not to mention, this horrid sound comes out of nowhere. Let's hurry the other Princesses might be in danger." Hanon nodded at that and the two swam towards the source of the noise.

It didn't take long to find the source, as Lucia and Rina were being blasted by music coming from shells surrounding them. Eriru was in front of them gloating so much that she didn't notice Hanon and Attis approaching her. They took one look at each other before Hanon went up to Eriru and yanked the controller she had out of her hand saying, "That won't happen!"

Eriru looked surprised to see Hanon as she said, "We came to find out what this loud music was!" Then she held the controller out to Attis and said, "Xaitts-san, will you do the honors?"

"Of coursed Aqua Mermaid Princess." Attis replied. He materialized Xatana as Hanon threw the controller. In one swift motion, Attis shattered the controller with one slash, making Eriru shout, "Shoot!" Then she pointed to Attis saying, "You again! Who are you?!"

"That's none of your concern miss." Attis simply replied, while Hanon say "Aqua Pearl Voice" transformed into her Idol form joining Lucia and Rina.

"Xaitts-san! Hanon, you came too?"Lucia happily sees her friend arrived on time. Hanon replied, "I came because I was worried about your date!"

Rina told Lucia, "Alright Lucia, let's go!" Lucia replied, "Okay! This time for sure"

Suddenly four beings popped out of nowhere, and to everyone's surprise, they were actually humans. Eriru was surprised while saying, "Humans?!" Attis and Hanon recognized the beings as Hanon said, "I don't believe it, those are the guys that attacked Attis-san last night!"

"What was that?!" Lucia and Rina shouted. Attis wondered what happened when he saw Shadows attached to their backs. He realized what was happening as the four thugs transformed into Sea Neon Heartless, which made Lucia ask, "What happened to them Xaitts-san?!"

"They were turned into Heartless…" Attis replied. Hanon turned to him and asked, "Is there any way to return them to normal?"

Attis replied, "You should start singing" Three Sea Neon tried to ram into the Mermaid Princesses, but bounced of the Live Stage barrier. And one Sea Neon try to attack Eriru but she evade it comically while complaining, "What are this things?!"

Lucia says, "Alright Gem Live start" The three Mermaids start singing

_Yukkuri to kumo wa nagarete niji no hate ni kiete itta_

"Stop, forgive me!" Eriru pleading and the four sea neon started to shake in pain.

_Hoshitachi wa shinju no you ni  
Tsuyoi hikari hanachihajimeru_

_Minami no sora kara kikoeru kuchibue  
Sou otona ni naru toki ga kiteita_

_Kiseki wo meguru bouken  
Yasashii haha no negai wo mune ni idakinagara daremo ga tabi wo shiteru_

Eriru started to spin while both his hands holding his head like she was suffering a headache by the effects of the Mermaid Princesses' singing and the Heartless are shaking a bit more.

Attis watched the whole scene, still a bit stumped at how singing defeated water demons and heartless. He decided to swim over to the water demon since she stole the Mermaid's Eye.

_Hoshi furu yoru no FANTAJIA  
Afureru namida to inori dare ni mo wakaranai  
Mirai wo terashiteru_

Ones they finish singing Lucia says "Love Shower Pitch!"

Eriru pleading, "I'm sorry!" while the sea neon dissipates releasing a captive heart and vanish.

Lucia , Rina and Hanon say together, "How about an Encore?"

"Forgive meeeee!" Eriru vanish, releasing the Mermaid's Eye she keep that's about to fall down to the bottom of the sea but Attis manage caught the gem on time.

Attis swim over to the Mermaid Princesses and hand the gem over to Rina, "I believe this belong to you Green Mermaid Princess" Rina with surprised look on her face makes Attis tilt his head and said, "What's wrong this gem belongs to your kingdom right since you are the mermaid princess of the North Atlantic Ocean."

Lucia says, "That's right the Mermaid's eye belongs to your Kingdom Rina" Hanon nodded, "Yeah, you should take it. It belongs to you after all."

Rina nodded and complied by her friends' words. She took the Gem from Attis' hand and she looked at him with seriousness even though she can't see his face due to the hood of his coat. She says, "Xaitts-san, I still don't trust you for hiding you identity from us" Her expression change with a smile while saying, "But Thank You"

Attis turn his back and said, "You should remember the other day that it doesn't matter whether you trust me or not. But I'm in your side." As he about to teleport Hanon shout, "Wait What about the humans that turned into heartless"

He looked at them and replied, "Oh that since you free their hearts by your singing they will reappear back where the heartless devour them." The three felt relief by his words then he thought, 'They are quite soft hearted'. Then he vanished using the corridor of darkness.

Attis teleported back to the cruise ship he was lucky that the lights were still off so no one will notice him he dematerialized his coat before lights went on. He noticed two people on the hallway near the deck one is Kaito and the other is an older girl name Ayaka that Lucia mentioned is hugging him. Attis decided to hide on the corner and observed since his quite curious about Kaito dating an older girl.

Kaito pushing Ayaka and said, "It's fine now" and walk up to the deck. "Kaito-kun!" Ayaka tried to call him but she was ignored.

"Lucia!" Kaito looking for Lucia by calling her name but Ayaka hug him while saying, "Oh, leave that girl alone. We can finally be alone!" But Kaito got irritated and push her away and said, "So that's what you wanted from the beginning! And gave me two tickets!"

Ayaka said, "It's okay, right? She's not your girlfriend or anything, right?" But Kaito replied "I already have someone I like"

"Eh!" Ayaka was shocked

Kaito look at the ocean with a smiled and said, "Like the Mermaid's Eye, she has pretty eyes" Ayaka was mad, "Hey, I've never heard that you had someone you liked!"

He said to her, "There's no need for me to tell you. I was only asked to teach you surfing by the surfing shop owner" Ayaka snap "What!? I'm older than you! How can you reject me!?" Then she slap Kaito on the face and leave.

Attis sigh and decided to call Kaito, "Hey, Kaito!" Kaito turn his attention the one calling his name "Attis?"

Ayaka look at the person calling Kaito's name she couldn't helped how handsome he is. She decided to walk up to him then she asked, "Are you Kaito-kun friend" Attis replied, "yes."

She said with an innocent face to Attis, "You're friend is so mean to me!" she try rush and hug Attis but he took a side step to avoid her which cause Ayaka fall down face flat. Kaito notice her trip which cause him to laugh a bit

Ayaka try to stand up while rubbing her nose with tears in her eyes and said, "Hey?!" Attis walk up to Kaito ignoring Ayaka while saying with a cold attitude to her, "I'm not interested of your made up stories and since you're older you should be mature of your age."

"Geez what's with men this a days!" Ayaka stand up and leave furiously while complaining.

Attis stand beside Kaito at the deck looking at the ocean. Kaito said to him, "That was quit cold of you Attis" He chuckle a bit and replied, "She deserved it plus I thought it might help you feel relieve since she trick you and slap you in the face"

Kaito laugh a bit then he notice Attis' face is cover in band aids on his forehead and his left cheek he asked, "What happened to your face?" Attis sigh and assured him, "I just run into trouble yesterday so there is nothing to worry about?" Kaito just nodded, "I see" Then he asked "What are you doing here Attis?"

Attis replied while scratching his head, "Well I came to see the Mermaid's eye that everyone talk about, but things got a bit hectic when the lights went out, I start wondering around in the dark and somehow I got lost. When the lights went on I saw you and that older girl."

After hearing his explanation Kaito asked, "So you were listening the whole time?" Attis replied, "Sorry about that but I was just curious since Lucia-san made a big fuss about it but knowing you you're not the type to go after older girls"

Kaito smiled and he asked, "Have you seen Lucia?" Attis shook his head, "No I haven't seen her" then he thought 'I've seen her under the ocean though' but decided to change the subject, "But Kaito you're quite the poet the way you describe the girl you like she has pretty eyes like the Mermaid's Eye" then he thought, 'Well the girl you like is actually Lucia-san in Mermaid form.'

As Kaito looked at the ocean and smiled, "Yeah" Then Attis asked him, "So who is the girl you liked?"

Kaito continue look at the ocean and said, "I know her but I don't know her name." Attis thought, 'He still doesn't know the girl he liked is actually Lucia-san in Mermaid form.' He sigh and said to him, "Well things will reveal itself eventually as long you follow what your heart tells you and it will lead the way. But who knows the girl you like is somewhere on the ocean, or in land, or maybe someone you know." Kaito was taken backed by Attis encouraging words.

Attis yawn stretching his arms and said, "It's getting late I should head back to my apartment. I'll see you later Kaito" Kaito replied, "Yeah see you"

As Attis heading to the entrance he thought, 'As long as Kaito's and Lucia's Hearts reach each other and connected it means happy ending for them' His expression change into emotionless expression, 'But for Nobodies the only thing we gain in the end is nothingness.'


	9. Chapter 9 Ice Surfing

Chapter 9 Ice Surfing

_Gaito's castle_

Gaito was in the throne room by himself, thinking about the current situation. He found it the recent reports from The Dark Lovers quite intriguing. They told him about the strange creatures with yellow eyes that appeared out of nowhere. Then a person in the black coat aided the Mermaid Princesses.

He heard from Maria that those creatures were called Heartless by the person in the black coat. Gaito heard about those creatures ten years ago when the previous seven mermaid princesses defeated the darkness and said, "Those Heartless why are they appearing now. I thought they were defeated years ago"

Walking towards the pillar tanks that held Coco and Noel, he looked at them and said, "They say they appear when they confront the Mermaid Princesses. Could it be their target is the Mermaid Princesses?"

* * *

_Beachside_

Attis was walking along the beach side after work. It started to become a habit after working at Maki's restaurant for quite a while, and he found the walk to be quite relaxing. That's when he saw Kaito and his friends standing nearby, but Attis wasn't in the mood to talk. Suddenly there was a large amount of screaming from what sounded like fan girls, and Attis turned his head to see a surfer surrounded by girls heading down the beach.

Watching, Attis saw the surfer stop by Kaito for a moment and he said something to him. As the surfer left, Attis decided to see what that was all about. Kaito's friends left to go surfing as Attis walked up to him asking, "What was that all about?"

"Oh Attis. It was nothing, just the West Japan's surfing champion." Kaito told him. Attis asked, "West Japan's surfing champion?"

Kaito raised an eyebrow and asked, "You haven't heard about it?" Attis shook his head and said, "I've been busy lately, that I haven't been able to keep up with events."

A nod came from Kaito and he told Attis, "Well, there's a major surfing competition happening in a few days. I was the champion last year, so I'm going to enter again." Attis knew where Kaito was going with it and said, "You're going to defend your title right?"

Smiling, Kaito replied, "Of course, that's why I need to start practicing. I'll see you later Attis." Watching Kaito run towards the ocean with his surfboard, Attis thought to himself, 'Hmm, he sure knows how to work hard; I'll give him that…' Attis continued walking down the beachside, his thoughts turning to the Heartless.

Eventually Attis reached a forest that was beside the beach, and he didn't realize that he had traveled so far until he heard a scream, "Ah, monster!" Snapping out of his thoughts, Attis turned to see a couple run out of the forest and he shouted, "What's going on?!"

The couple stopped in front of Attis for a second as the male shouted, "A skinny looking Monster just appeared out of nowhere inside the forest!" The female shouted, "Let's get out of here!"

Watching the couple run away Attis had a sneaking suspicion about it and quickly materialized the black cloak and threw it on. Summoning Xatana and making sure his face was hooded so that it couldn't be seen if someone were to suddenly pop up, Attis ran into the forest, where he heard snapping sounds. When he reached the source, he saw Dusks in a clearing.

Just sighing at the scene, Attis held Xatana and made a charge at one of the Dusks. Dispatching it in an instant with one slash, Attis attacked the other Dusks before the Nobody could get over the shock of the sudden attack. This decimated most of the other Dusks, leaving only two remain.

That's when the two Dusks whispered each other suddenly one decided to jump and it tried to Attack Attis, but he blocked it with Xatana. But the Dusk grab his right hand tightly were he hold the Xatana and Attis shook his hand, trying to make the Nobody to let go. He shouted, "Let go!"

Suddenly, Attis saw the other Dusk was running towards him. He quickly jumped out of the way and used fire spell on his left hand to hit the Dusk holding his right hand and dissipate.

Now with only one remain left, Attis started to attack it. The remaining Dusk decided to retreat but in a blink of an eye it was slice in an instance before the Dusk notice and dissipate.

Checking to see if there are anymore Lower Nobodies in the area, Attis sighed and thought, 'Looks like the Organization are sending Dusks to do recon missions' Seeing that there were no more Dusks, Attis made Xatana vanish and he made his way out of the forest, taking off his cloak and making it vanish too.

Back on the beach, Attis just realized how far he had gone, and didn't find the area too familiar. Back tracking, a stray thought came across his mind, 'The Mermaid Princesses are lucky that didn't encounter any Nobodies aside for me. They can defeat Heartless and Water Demons with their singing but they can't defeat beings without hearts.'

* * *

_City streets_

Attis was walking through the city streets, with a couple of grocery bags in his hands. Maki had sent Attis out to get some things that the restaurant was running low on. Considering that business was starting to slow down, there wasn't much Attis had to do when it came to his waiter duties.

As he walked down the streets, heading back to the restaurant, Attis saw Lucia sitting at a fountain writing something down, with someone he recognized as the surfer from yesterday. Standing near the fountain was Hanon, who seemed to be talking quite eagerly on the phone. Wondering what was going on, Attis decided to check things out for a bit thinking, 'Maki-san can wait for a bit longer…'

Walking up to Lucia and the surfer, Attis said, "Hi Lucia-san, what are you doing?" Lucia looked up from her notebook and said, "Oh Attis-san! I was just taking down some notes for a bento that I'm making."

"Yeah, Lucia-chan's going to make me an awesome bento!" The guy sitting near Lucia said. Judging from the look on Lucia's face, Attis wasn't too sure about that as he said, "Hi there, I'm Attis Hale, but I go by Attis. How about you?"

The guy replied, "Kousuke Sakiya, nice to meet you Attis-san." The two of them shook hands as Attis put down the bags that were in his right hand. Then Kousuke got up and picked up his surfboard saying, "Well then, I'd better get going. I look forward to the bento Lucia-chan!" As he walked away Attis heard Lucia say, "Geez, even though it's not for him. *sigh* Oh well…"

"…I'm taking a wild guess that you're going to make something for Kaito, right?" Attis asked. Lucia blushed a bit as she replied, "Yes, I am."

A nod came from Attis as he put his hand on Lucia's shoulder and said, "I wish you luck with that Lucia-san. I'm sure Kaito will enjoy whatever you make for him." Lucia seemed to brighten up at that and said, "Thank you Attis-san. I'll make the best bento for Kaito, for sure!" Lucia gripped her hand with determination as she said that.

Seeing Lucia all fired up, Attis picked up the bags from the ground and said, "I guess I'll see you later Lucia-san, I need to get back to work with these bags."

Lucia nodded and said, "Okay, see you later Attis-san!" Attis smiled and walked off, sighing to himself as he quickly made his way back to the restaurant.

* * *

_Beachside_

The next day, the surfing competition was underway, and Attis was there, waiting to watch the competition. Maki had let him off early, on the pretense that Attis would tell him who won the competition. Smirking to himself, Attis looked around until he saw Kaito walk by with his surfboard, and said, "Looks like you're in top form Kaito."

"Hey Attis, glad to see that you can make it." Kaito said. Attis smirked and said, "As if I'd miss seeing you win the competition."

Kaito laughed at that and said, "That's right!" For some reason though, Attis noticed a look in Kaito's eye and asked, "Something bothering you Kaito? You look a bit distracted for some reason…"

"N-no, I'm fine Attis, don't worry about it." Kaito told him. Attis looked at Kaito one last time and said, "If you say so…"

Attis followed Kaito down the beach, until they came across Lucia, Hanon, and Rina. Kousuke was there as well, eating something that looked like it came out of the basket that was in front of Lucia on the bench she and Kousuke were sitting on. Attis raised an eyebrow at that as Kousuke called out to Kaito, "Yo, East Japan champion."

As Kaito turned to Kousuke he said to him, "Lucia-chan made this bento just for me!" Attis couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion as Lucia tried to explain, "Um, that's wrong, this isn't what it looks like…" Kousuke didn't make things any better when he said, "Lucia-chan's bento is the greatest! You want some?"

Kaito looked away and said, "Nah, I'm fine…" As Kaito walked away, Lucia tried to explain to him one more time, but if failed miserably. Attis just shook his head at the whole thing, wondering what the heck just happened.

When Kousuke thanked Lucia for the food and went over to where the competitors were, Attis turned to Lucia and asked, "Uh, wasn't that food supposed to be for Kaito, Lucia-san?"

"Ah, it was, but Sakiya-kun just went in and ate some when I showed it to him!" Lucia told Attis. He thought about it for a second, then asked, "Did you tell Sakiya-san that the food was supposed to be for Kaito?"

"Uh, well, not really…" Lucia said sheepishly. Attis sighed and told her, "Well, that's you're problem right there, you should've told Sakiya-san clearly that the food was supposed to be for Kaito before you showed it to him, or better yet, not showed him at all."

Hanon and Rina nodded with Rina saying, "I have to agree with Attis-san over there, you should've made things clear first." Then Hanon said, "Now there's a misunderstanding between the two of you again…"

Rolling his eyes, Attis turned his attention to the ocean, where the competition was underway. Watching the first competitor take off, everything was going fine, until the guy fell off his surfboard, which the competitor said, "Oh, he fell down!"

However for Attis, when he was watching, he felt a very faint pulse of energy just before the surfer fell, and knew that the fall was no accident. Feigning a headache, he turned around and said, "Ugh, my head hurts a bit. I need to leave for a moment, alright girls?"

The three Princesses nodded with Lucia saying, "Will you be alright?" Attis nodded and said, "Don't worry about it, it's just something minor." With that he walked away from the three and headed towards the street.

Making sure that no one was looking his way, Attis made his way around until he managed to reach a secluded spot on the beach. Quickly putting on the black coat, Attis jumped into the water and swam towards the area where he felt the energy pulses come from every now and again.

Eventually, Attis reached the place where the energy was coming from, where he found Maria standing there. He heard her say, "You still won't come out, Mermaid Princesses? Then, I'll freeze some more!" That's when she shot an ice beam towards the surface, and Attis watched as it headed for the next surfer, which happened to be Kousuke.

The beam traveled towards the surfboard, which made part of it freeze. The sudden freeze caused the surfboard to become unbalanced and it threw Kousuke off, sending him falling into the water. Maria laughed at that and Attis shouted, "So, we have quite the prankster on hand, do we now?"

Maria quickly snapped around and shouted, "Who's there?! Show yourself!" Attis laughed and he swam up to her and said, "Quite the impatient water demon…"

Seeing Attis swim up to her, Maria surprised by his appearance and said, "Wait you're the Black Coated Person always helping the Mermaid Princesses!"

"And you're that snow fairy" Attis shot back at her. Maria fumed at that then she held out her hand at him and shouted, "Take this!" She shot out an ice beam that Attis managed to evade.

Suddenly Maria looked up, which made Attis look up and he saw Kaito surfing up there. Maria smirked and said, "Those foolish humans never learn! Then I'll just keep freezing more and more!" She held her hand towards the surface as Attis rushed over shouting, "Hold up missy!" He was too late however, as Maria had already fired the beam.

To their surprise, Kaito managed to dodge it, which made Attis say, "Looks like you missed. You're aimed going bad or something?" Maria just fumed and turned to Attis saying, "I just have to take my frustration out on you then!"

"Just try it, if you can hit me" Attis mocking her. Maria got angry at that as she shouted, "Lover's Ice Darts!" Maria threw a bunch of icicles at Attis, who retaliated by pointing his right hand at Maria shouting, "Blizzard!"

The palm of his right hand glowed and a few icicles shot out, hitting some of the icicles, while Attis blocked the rest of them. Maria smirked and said, "You're quite tough, but can you block this!" She shot an ice beam at Attis, but he countered it by shouting "Dark Firaga!" His right hand is now covered in darkness then he launched a single ball of dark flame from the palm of his hand straight through the ice beam. Unfortunately Dark Firaga is a Dark attribute spell that he launched force its way through the ice beam then heading to Maria.

Maria managed to dodge the attack and she looked at the black coated figure in awe she felt something uneasy about him, 'That attack he use just now I sense darkness. What on earth is he?' That's when Lucia's voice shouted out, "So it was you after all!"

Both Attis and Maria turned to see Lucia, Hanon, and Rina swim out from behind a rock, and Maria said, "So, you finally appeared, Mermaid Princesses! I was getting sick of waiting for you!" Attis took that chance he materialized his Xatana and swing at Maria again saying, "You shouldn't let your guard down you ice fairy!"

"Stopped calling me fairy?!" Maria shouted as she dodged another blow. Rina asked, "What's Xaitts-san doing here?" Lucia shook her head and said, "Never mind that." That's when Maria shouted, "Take this!" and she fired an ice beam at the three Mermaid Princesses, which they managed to dodge.

"Now I'm pissed" Lucia didn't look to happy.

"Pink Pearl Voice" "Aqua Pearl Voice" "Green Pearl Voice" They changed into their idol forms, while Attis kept Maria busy by trying to hit her. After Lucia, Hanon, and Rina transformed, they were just in time to see Attis whip around Maria and he cast an Aero spell on Maria, making her fly forward towards the Princesses.

Maria was so mad, that she didn't realize that Attis was just toying with her the entire time. Attis could've beaten Maria by himself if he wanted, but decided to leave it to the Princesses. That's when Lucia said, "I won't forgive you for messing with the surfing competition that everyone was working so hard for!"

"Shut up! I don't need to hear you preaching!" Maria shouted. Lucia just ignored her as she said, "Here we go!" But out of nowhere the Heartless appeared and there are a lot of them surrounding The Mermaid Princesses, Maria and Attis.

"Oh, no the Heartless and there to many of them!" Hanon was shocked by the numbers of heartless surrounding them so does Lucia and Rina.

Maria shock by the numbers surrounding them she shouted, "Not this strange creatures again!"

Attis just observed situation calmly he identify the group of heartless surrounding them which consist of ten Sea Neons, three Jet Balloons, and nine Missile Diver. Their eyes are only focus on the Mermaid Princesses.

The Heartless started swimming over to the Mermaid Princesses. Then Lucia with determination in her eyes shouted, "I won't let the Heartless and the Water Demons interfere. Today's audiences are the fishes of the ocean! Here we go!" with Hanon and Rina joining in, they shouted, "Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!"

_Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete tooi misaki wo mezashiteta_

A Bright light shine around the Mermaid Princesses when they sing causing Maria to cover her eyes with her arms and the Heartless stop swimming towards the Mermaid Princesses and start shaking in pain.

_Yoake mae kikoeta MERODII__  
__Sore wa totemo natsukashii uta_

_Higashi no sora he to habataku toritachi__  
__Saa takarajima ni nukeru chikamichi._

_The light emitted by the Mermaid Princesses was too strong. Maria couldn't go near them so does the Heartless. _

_Nanatsu no umi no rakuen__  
__Arashi no yoru no ato ni wa ai wo tsutaeru tame inochi ga mata umareru__  
__Nanatsu no kuni no MERODIA__  
__Daremo ga itsuka wa koko wo tabidatsu hi ga kitemo__  
__Watashi wa wasurenai_

Ones they finish singing the group Heartless dissipate releasing their captive hearts and vanish. The Mermaid Princesses say their catchphrase, "Love Shower Peach!" then "How about an Encore?"

Seeing Maria in a weakened state, she shouted, "How rude! How can you refuse my love! You'll see now" was all Maria said before she vanished. Attis shook his head and turned to the Mermaid Princesses asking, "By the way, do you three always end with that 'Love Shower Pitch' thing?"

"Of course, since singing wouldn't sound right without it!" Lucia said proudly. Attis just thought, 'Right…' Looking around he didn't see any Heartless pop up and he said, "You three better get out of here, before more Heartless shows up."

They nodded and turned back into their mermaid forms. As they swam away, as for him he use the corridor of darkness to teleport himself away.

The time he reached back to shore, the contest was already over, with everyone gone. Attis' head tilted to the side as he said, "Oh man, I don't know who won. What am I going to tell Maki-san?"

Walking along the beach side, he saw that the sun was starting to set, and feeling a bit resigned, Attis just walked looking like he was out of it. He didn't walk far when he saw Lucia and Kaito together. Seeing the good mood around them, Attis didn't want to intrude, but he wanted to know if Kaito won the competition or not.

So, Attis quickly went over to the mat where Lucia and Kaito were sitting and said, "Hi Kaito, Lucia-san."

Lucia was the first to speak asking, "Oh, Attis-san, do you feel better?" Attis nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine now." Kaito looked at him and asked, "Did something happen?"

Nodding, Attis replied, "Just had a headache Kaito. Unfortunately I practically missed all of the competition. I'm going to have to take a crack at it and say that you won the competition right?"

"Of course." Kaito said smugly, "Though it's mostly because all of the competitors somehow messed up during their routines." Attis said to that, "Yeah I heard about that, weird huh?"

Lucia looked like she sweat dropped as Attis noticed all the food and said, "Wow, looks like Lucia-san really out did herself with this," He pointed to all the food as Lucia said, "Yup, it's all for Kaito since he won and all."

Attis chuckled at that and said, "Then, I guess I'll see the two of you later." He waved at them, which they returned, and Attis left the beach, noticing that Hanon and Rina were watching the two nearby with interest. Looking over to the he asked, "Something interesting over there ladies?"

Hanon looked at him and asked, "You tell me Attis-san. You were over there, right?"

"Sorry Hanon-san, but I didn't stick around long enough to catch anything juicy enough. It not like something's big is going to happen anyway." Attis told her. Rina just smirked at that, while Hanon just rolled her eyes and continued watching Lucia and Kaito.

Giving a shrug, Attis left the two to their own devices as he went back to his apartment.

* * *

_Attis' apartment_

Back at his apartment, Attis was busy making himself dinner, and when he was finished cooking, he sat down on a nearby table and ate. After eating he sat down in front of the T.V. and started watching, but his thoughts were somewhere else, as a voice in his head said, 'Attis…'

'Hmm? Aqua Regina…?' Attis thought, thinking that he was imagining things. Apparently he wasn't when Aqua Regina's voice replied, 'Yes Attis, it's me…'

'Uh, not to be rude or anything, but is there something you wanted?' Attis asked in thought. Aqua Regina answered him with a question, 'Why do you hide your identity from the Mermaid Princesses?'

Attis was a bit surprised by Aqua Regina's question and replied, 'Because it's better that they didn't know who or what I am, though I guess it'd have to do with not getting close to them.' Then Aqua Regina argued, 'But you seem to be getting close to them when they're in their human forms.'

Shaking his head Attis sigh and thought, 'I'm just trying to act what I used to back when I was human but I only rely on my memories since I don't have a heart.' Then his eyes become serious and thought, 'you should know this that the Mermaid Princesses can defeat water demons and heartless but they cannot defeat the nobodies'

'Yes, I know… But that's why you're here to protect them' Aqua Regina told him. That's when Aqua Regina's voice faded from his mind and Attis couldn't help but think, 'I wonder what she wanted…? I don't think she would try to contact me just for that…'


	10. Chapter 10 A Heartless Melody

Chapter 10 A Heartless Melody

_Taro's house_

"Hmm, Mitsuki-san doesn't seem the type to order meals, in my opinion." Attis said to himself. Walking towards Taro's house with a bento in his hands, he was surprised to hear that the restaurant had a take-out option available. Seeing that business was steady, and the other workers were able to handle the load, Maki was the one that sent him on the delivery, since he knew where Taro lived.

Speaking of workers, there were other waiters that worked with Attis, as well as cooks that he all met after his first day of work. He found them to all be quite friendly and he didn't mind their company, and they accepted Attis quite easily to his surprise. Maki was glad at the outcome, and things seemed to be busy for a while, though it started to settle down after a few weeks.

Back to the present time, Attis was in front of Taro's house as he rang the doorbell. Inside, he heard Taro's voice shout, "I'll be right there!"

A moment later the door opened and Taro saw Attis standing there with a bag saying, "Oh, Attis-san! What can I do for you?" Attis held up the bag in front of Taro and said, "I got your order Mitsuki-san."

Taro nodded at that and said, "Do you mind if you come in and drop it off? I'm actually in the middle of something." Attis got curious so he replied, "Sure, why not?" Walking into the house and closing the door behind him, Taro pointed to the table where he could drop off the food as he rushed over to his piano.

After putting the food on the table, Attis looked over to Taro sitting at the piano and asked, "What are you doing?" Taro had an old fashioned pen in his hand when he replied, "I'm making a musical piece for a contest that takes place in a few days, and all I need to do is this." With the pen in his hand he signed the bottom of the paper that was in front of him, which Attis could see had a musical score on it.

Walking over to the piano, Attis asked, "Uh, do you mind if I take a look at it Mitsuki-san?" Taro nodded in reply, "Okay, but please be careful with them."

Smirking a bit at that, Attis carefully took the papers and overlooked them, while Taro played the piano. As Taro played, Attis was looking over the notes, seeing that it was quite interesting. Not being much of a music person, Attis found the music to be quite nice. Then he put most of the pages back on the piano, except the last one, which he still held in his hand.

Suddenly Attis felt someone's presence the two heard a key being pushed the wrong way, and they looked up to see Yuri standing there, who he recognized as the girl who was at the concert hall back then. Yuri looked at Taro and said, "I'd like you to give me this song." Hearing this, Attis quickly hid the last page that he was holding by folding it into his pocket without drawing attention to himself.

Taro looked quite surprised at Yuri's appearance and asked, "Who are you?" Attis walked to Taro's side and demanded, "Not to mention, how the heck you get in here?" Yuri just smirked and said, "Just look into my eyes you two."

Attis tried to use his power to resist and fight her but in a last second decided not to. He thought she might get suspicious of him so he decided to play along, Yuri's powers were already starting to affect them, and Attis felt his consciousness slip away. The two of them fell to the floor in a slump, with the last thing Attis seeing was Yuri take the composition with a smile on her face.

A moment later, Lucia, Hanon, and Rina ran into the house, with Hanon in the lead shouting, "Taro-chan!" Entering the living room, the three of them saw both Attis and Taro on the floor unconscious, with Hanon running to Taro in concern. Soon Rina managed to get Taro conscious and with Lucia, went over to Attis and the two helped him up, with Rina waking him up in the same way she did to Taro.

As Taro worried about the song he composed, Attis came around too asking, "Ugh, what the heck just happened?" Then he saw Lucia, Hanon, and Rina in the room and asked, "Hm? W-when did you three get here?"

"We just got here when we saw you and Mitsuki-sensei on the floor unconscious. What exactly happened?" Rina said. Attis remembered what just happened, but had to fake it by saying, "Ow…the last thing I remember was a girl with long green hair and a red dress appearing out of thin air. Then she did something to us and…ow, I can't remember the rest…but I think she took the score…"

Finding that his head was still hurting a bit, Attis clutched it as Taro started to panic. The three Princesses however, had their suspicions of who it was after what Attis had told them. Shaking his head, Attis tried to get up, with Lucia and Rina supporting him. That's when they heard Taro shout, "I can't even remember one phrase of it!"

As Lucia and Rina went to get a doctor, Hanon was beside Taro trying to call out to him frantically, but she couldn't reach him. That's when Attis called out to him, "M-Mitsuki-s-san…"

For some reason, Taro looked at Attis as he took out the page out of his pocket and said, "Here, t-this is the last page of your composition. I was holding it when it got taken…" Attis' words seemed like a godsend to Taro as he took the page from Attis and opened it to look. To his shock, Taro recognized it as his own writing, but the notes looked totally foreign to him, and the shock caused him to collapse, making Hanon catch him.

Attis got up, but found that he was still suffering from the effects of Yuri's power. It made him stagger as Hanon looked over to him and said, "Attis-san!" Attis shook it off saying, "I'm fine Hanon-san, just need to shake it off, and I need to make a call."

Walking out of the room as he saw Hanon take Taro over to a nearby couch, Attis went over to a nearby phone and called Maki. After explaining what happened, while changing the story a bit, Maki agreed to let Attis off for the rest of the day, saying that things weren't that busy, and hoped that he and Taro would be fine.

Later, after the doctor had come by and Taro was on the couch lying comfortably on the couch, he came too, only to see Hanon beside him putting a towel over her head. Not far off Attis, Lucia, and Rina were standing nearby, with Attis holding onto both Lucia and Rina's shoulders since he was still wobbly.

After listening to Taro's story of how he had dedicated to score to a mermaid he had met back in the past, he turned to Attis and said, "Attis-san, I am extremely grateful that you still had the last page of my composition. With it, at least I still have a part of it with me, though I hope that I can remember the rest by the time of the contest."

"Don't worry so hard about it Mitsuki-san. I'm sure that the last page will jog your memory." Attis assured him. Then he let go of Lucia and Rina's shoulders and headed for the door saying, "I hope you get better Mitsuki-san."

* * *

_Beachside – forest_

Attis was walking through the forest beside the beach, where he fought the Dusks. Looking around, he remember about Taro's story he thought, 'A Mermaid he met at the Indian Ocean' Then suddenly remembered, 'If recall correctly that's where the Orange Mermaid Princess live…' He suddenly smiled, 'Taro Mitsuki you're full of surprises, first you have the same Qi as the Superior, second your God Father is Ansem the Wise, and now you have a connection with a Mermaid you met in Indian Ocean… I wonder what's next'

He sat down on a stump close to him. The effects of Yuri's power started to wear a while ago he sigh and said to himself, "To think I let myself caught off guard something as simple is that… It can't be helped I don't want anyone to get suspicious of me."

Then suddenly he felt a waved of energy he thought, 'Must be that Water Demon earlier. I should check it out' He materialized his coat and headed to where the wave of energy he felt.

* * *

_Taro's house_

Taro was now sitting in front of his piano trying to remember the music piece he wrote while playing. But no matter how hard he tried to remember while playing he couldn't even remember. He slams his fist on the piano keys out of frustration.

"Unforgivable isn't it" Suddenly he heard a deep voice echoed in his room which startled him.

"Who's there?!" Taro stands up as he looked around inside his house but there is no one else except him. He sigh and said to himself, "After what happen earlier I must be getting paranoid. But that voice it sounds familiar..."

* * *

_Oceanside – island rock_

By the time Attis reached the place, he saw the scene but in a bit distance the Water Demon Yuri in an Island like rock playing with a piano, and he also saw the Mermaid Princesses in their Mermaid forms. Hanon wrap around by a water like tentacles in an upside down position while Lucia and Rina are sleeping in the ocean surface. He observed the situation and heard the music from the piano he thought, 'By the looks of things they were affected by that Water Demon's Music'

Yuri finish playing then she stand and laughed happily for her success, she said to herself proudly, "I've captured the Pink and Green Mermaid Princesses too! What a great catch it is to get all three! I'm so awesome! This is the way to make Gaito-sama happy again!" After boasting her success she picked up the music note from her piano while saying, "Since I caught the Mermaid Princesses, I won't be needing this anymore."

Hanon sheepishly open her eyes and she looked at Yuri who pick up the music notes and asked, "Yuri, what are you gonna do?" Yuri starting to tear the music note, "No! That's Taro-chan's! Please stop!" Hanon begging for her to stop but she said with a mocking attitude, "I don't understand what you're talking about! If this bothers you, come take it back yourself!" She tears off the Music Note in half and throws it away like trash while laughing.

Attis witness this he thought, 'Don't tell me the Music Note she tore off is Mitsuki-san's' He was about to teleport to get there but Hanon shouted, "What have you done?!" A bright light shines from her pearl necklace releasing her from her binds. "No Way!" Yuri was surprised so does Attis.

Rina woke up and notice Lucia is sleeping she yells at her, "Lucia!" Lucia sheepishly wake up and said, "Morning Already"

"Aqua Pearl Voice!" "Green Pearl Voice!" "Pink Pearl Voice!" The Mermaid Princesses Transform to their Idol form. Attis saw them in Idol form he thought, 'Looks like they can handle this' he lean himself in the tree thought, 'but I'll just observed here to make sure'

The Mermaid Princesses are now confronting Yuri, "You people….how?" Yuri was caught off guard by the unexpected while Hanon was not please of Yuri's actions and said, "I won't forgive you for stealing Taro-chan's precious song!" As she about to say something else but darkness started to form around the pieces of paper on the ground. Lucia, Rina, and Hanon notice this even Yuri.

Looking at the pieces being bathed in darkness, the three Princesses and Yuri looked at the scene with shock on their faces and Hanon asked, "W-what's happening to Taro-chan's score?!" The darkness grew bigger which Attis notice it from a distance he thought, 'That Darkness I know the sign and it isn't good' As the Darkness grew bigger that can occupied half of the island like rock and soon, it formed into a giant Heartless that Attis instantly recognized it, "Oh know that's a Darkside!"

The temperature started to drop a bit, and to everyone's surprise, they saw the sea surrounding the rock they were on freeze into rough ice. The three Princesses and Yuri, seeing the towering Heartless, looked surprised as Lucia shouted, "What the heck is that?!"

The Darkside had raised a fist up and it was aimed towards the Mermaid Princesses. Suddenly Attis arrive at the sidelines on time using the corridor of darkness then he pointed his right hand at the Mermaid Princesses and shouted, "Aero!"

The blast of wind magic lifted the three Mermaid Princesses into the air to avoid being squished by Darkside's punch. The three Mermaid Princesses actually landed on the ice softly as Lucia notice the Black cloaked figure, "Xaitts-san!"

Attis headed to where they land and said, "I saw everything that's happen" Then he turned his attention to the Darkside and said "That score must've had some power behind it, for it to turn into a Heartless…"

"What? A Heartless…? Is that even possible?" Rina asked him. Attis nodded and said, "I've seen it happen before a few times, but this one's a first…a musical score turning into one."

Attis look at the Darkside who is now focus on Yuri raising its fist and punches to the ground were the piano and Yuri stands. The piano was smashed but Yuri manage to dodge out of the way while complaining, "Whaaaa, Gaito-sama help me!"

He looked at Yuri in distress he thought, 'It's like they say reap what you sow'. Then he noticed the Darkside's fist on the ground creating a dark pool that gives birth to a large number of Shadows heading at the shore. He turn his attention to the Mermaid Princesses and said, "That thing is called a Darkside a very powerful Heartless. If that thing goes to shore it will start devouring every human hearts."

Hanon shaking for a bit, and when she looked up, Attis saw anger in her eyes as she said, "I won't let this Heartless defile Taro-chan's music anymore!" Seeing the determination in Hanon's eyes and supporting looks in Lucia and Rina's eyes. Attis couldn't help but think, 'Man, I don't think I'll underestimate a girl's feelings ever again…'

"I'll show them the hidden powers of a girl in love!"Hanon shouted then together with Lucia and Rina they say "Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!"

_Oto tatezu ni iro kaeteku  
BEBII-BURUU no sora wo mitsumetetara _

_Tooi kioku yomigaeru_

Nee nanatsu no umi no mukou  
Hora dareka ga naiteiru ki ga shite  
Mune ga "KYUN" to setsunaku naru yo

Watashi wo tasukete...

Seeing Hanon is now the leading singer with Lucia and Rina giving support, and the song Hanon was singing was new to Attis. He notice Yuri is now covering her ears while saying, "Cut it out! Don't sing!" The horde shadows are starting to shake in pain and dissipate one by one. But the Darkside manage to resist to the song now turn its attention to the Mermaid Princesses. He thought, 'Looks like it can manage to resist to the song'

_Nanika ga shiraseru destiny  
Hoshi no michibiki wo mune ni dakishimete_

The Darkside creates a dark force in the heart-shaped hole in its body, which fires dark like orb homing missiles to the Mermaid Princesses. Attis notice this and try to intercept the attacked since he also noticed the Mermaid Princesses are not in there Live stage Barrier. As the Dark like orb was about to hit him but it suddenly vanish which surprised him.

Sore wa EBAA-BURUU kagayaku daisuki na ano umi yo  
Mirai wo mamoru chikara wo ima atsumete

Yuri is now down to her knees while covering her ears and the broken piano vanish. The Darkside started moving slowly and headed to where the Mermaid Princesses are singing. Attis noticed that he raise his right hand and shouted, "Dark Fira!" shooting a large Dark fireball from his right hand hitting at the Darkside's face causing it to fall back. He ran towards the island like rock where the Darkside stands while trying to maintain his balance since his in an ice field.

By the time he reaches the Darkside ready its right fist and then punched him. But Attis notice it and he jump to the right. He also noticed the Darkside's movements are now sloppy. So he materialized his Xatana to his left hand and he used it to cut off the Darkside's right arm. He thought, 'I need to keep this thing occupied'

_Aisubeki hito ga ite aisubeki basho ga aru  
Kirameku aosa PYUA na kimochi no mama de mamorutame ni_

The Mermaid Princesses finish their singing and then saying their catch phrase, "Love Shower Pitch!" "How about an encore?"

"I don't know what's worse being attack by that monster or listing to your singing! I'll remember this" Yuri vanished while the Darkside is now on its knees weaken and black like smoke are now releasing from its body.

Attis raise his Xatana and he swinged it to the Darkside's neck severing its head from the body causing to dissipate the whole thing. Leaving only a ripped piece of paper, He looked at the pieces of paper on the ground he felt a little bit of wave of energy before it vanished. He thought, 'That power I felt just now before it disappear it must be him'

He noticed Hanon run pass him she bend down and pick up a ripped piece of paper. He saw that she had tears in her eyes, and when he got closer, he saw that the piece of paper she picked up had the initials 'T.M.' on it.

Hanon started to cry saying, "And all I wanted was to be useful to my dear Taro-chan…" She bends down her knees and cried.

"Hanon" Lucia felt really bad for her so does Rina but for Attis felt nothing since he doesn't have emotions due not having a heart but he only rely on his memories respond correctly to specific situations.

Attis walked pass Hanon and said to her without turning back, "If you want to be useful to someone you hold so dear then stop crying and start thinking. You are Mermaid Princess after all.." Then a Corridor of Darkness appeared and engulfed himself to teleport himself away.

With that Attis teleported away from the three, a bit surprised by what Attis had told Hanon. She seemed to think about it the most, when an idea came to her and she turned to Lucia and Rina to discuss it.

* * *

_Attis' apartment_

Lying back on his bed, suddenly his phone rang, and Attis got up and walked over to it and picked it up. He said, "Attis Hale here." On the other end, he heard Taro's voice say excitedly, "Attis-san, I remembered it!"

"Whoa, Mitsuki-san?" Attis said, thrown off guard by Taro's voice. That's when Attis remembered that he had left his number by Taro's phone, just in case he needed anything. He said, "Did something happen Mitsuki-san? You sound like you just made a discovery of a lifetime, you know?"

On the other end, Taro seemed to calm down and say, "Oh, sorry about that. It's just that I remembered the composition just a moment ago." Attis raised an eyebrow as he said, "Really, that's great news."

"I know you won't believe it, but the reason I can remember is because a mermaid showed up and started singing this beautiful song. It made me remember everything!" Taro said excitedly. Attis figured he was expecting a response that said he didn't believe him, because what Attis said surprised him, "I guess the mermaid felt your pain and wanted to cheer you up Mitsuki-san. Mermaids are quite interesting, wouldn't you say?"

"Uh…yeah…" Taro said, still a bit surprised by that. Attis yawned and said, "I'm glad that you remember Mitsuki-san, but I need to go now. Need to turn in early since I have to get up early for work and all."

"Oh…right, goodnight Attis-san." Taro said on the other end. Attis replied, "Night Mitsuki-san." Attis hung up and went over to his bed he thought, 'Looks like Hanon-san manage to help him remember.' He went to bed and fell asleep pretty quickly.

* * *

Concert Hall

The Next day Attis was invited to the contest where Taro played. He was sitting on the front row along with Kaito, Lucia, Rina, and Hanon.

Hanon listening to Taro's music she said, "As I thought, Taro-chan's song is beautiful!"

Lucia looked at Kaito since he is sitting right next to her. She says, "Hey Kaito, Mitsuki-sensei made this song for a mermaid he remembers…" Kaito says, "A mermaid he remembers?" She replied, "For a mermaid he saw here and another in the Indian Ocean"

"Mermaid…" Kaito mumbled and remembered the Mermaid he met at the aquarium. Lucia staring at Kaito she thought, 'I wonder if Kaito is remembering about the mermaid me. It'd be nice if he realizes someday. I'm in his eyes, so… And we're creating new memories together, for sure!'

Attis was only sitting quietly listening to the music he observed everyone is enjoying it including Kaito, Lucia, Rina, and Hanon who are sitting near him. But for him he felt nothing, no matter what kind of music it will never reach Attis since his a Nobody.

He stared at Taro and he thought, 'The Superior always has a secret agenda that no one in the Organization knows….. I wonder if Mitsuki-san is one of his agendas'


	11. Chapter 11 Sunset with Friends

Chapter 11 Sunset with friends

_City Street_

Now Attis was walking through the city, doing another errand for Maki-san, this time holding a few drink bottles. Along the way, he noticed Lucia standing near a tree looking at something. He walked over to her asking, "Lucia-san? What are you looking at?"

Lucia was slightly startled but relaxed when Attis came up to her. She said, "Attis-san, take a look!" Wondering what Lucia was pointed to, Attis looked over, and to his surprise, he saw Rina in a pretty dress, sitting in a restaurant with someone he didn't recognize. Attis asked, "What's up with that?"

"Rina got scouted as a model! She's currently having lunch with Ishibashi-san!" Lucia told him. Then she sighed and went back to watching them saying, "Those two really have an air of sophistication…" Attis looked at Rina and thought, 'I guess it's not surprising, since she is quite beautiful…'

They continued watching and the two listened in on the conversation somehow. Soon Attis remembered his errand and said, "Sorry, but I have to get back to work. I'll see you later Lucia-san."

Lucia nodded and Attis continued walking. As he headed back to Maki's restaurant Attis thought, 'Wonder how that will turn out…'

* * *

_Beachside- Road_

Later, Attis was heading back to his apartment, he saw Rina headed to Pearl Piari, and decided to tease her a bit saying, "Well, if it isn't the new model!" Looking around Rina saw Attis and said calmly, "Sorry, but I'm no model"

Attis tilt his head. Rina sighed and said, "I'm guessing you heard about it from Lucia earlier."

Attis scratch his head and said, "Yeah, I heard it from her." Rina shook her head and told him, "Well, I'm not a model anymore."

"…I see." Attis said, "Well, that's your choice, so I won't say anything about it." Rina was slightly surprised at that as Attis heading back to his destination and said, "See you later"

* * *

_Beachside – forest_

The next day, Attis made his way over to the forest, since he had two days off from work starting today. Taking that chance to explore the forest, He thought, 'This place is perfect for training... Since my movements are becoming sloppy lately.' Then he was surprised when he encountered Dusks the first step he took into it. Changing into his coat in a flash, Attis materialized Xatana and said, "Looks like this is a good place to open the Corridor of Darkness for the Dusks to sneak in without noticed."

Attis charged right into the forest, striking the first Dusk he saw. He continued attacking, but the Dusks continued to keep coming, making him think, 'Man, How many are there. Looks like this is my training session then'

Attis spent most of the day searching the woods, while beating up Dusks that popped up. With another Dusk biting the dust, Attis was now a bit tired. He swung his Xatana once and observed his surrounding, "Looks like that was the last of it. But at least I have a great exercise"

As he about to leave the forest suddenly an idea pop out on his mind and said, "Since it's my day off might as well go to usual place where hangout with the twins" He raise his right hand and summon a corridor of darkness which he entered it.

* * *

Twilight Town

A Dark Portal appeared at the side street of twilight town which Attis came out of the portal. He looks at his surroundings and said, "Twilight Town just like I remembered" Then he become exited, "I can't wait to buy my favorite Ice Cream!"

Attis running towards Station Heights and headed his destination Tram Common an open-market area with a free tram circling around, Many shops are found here, including the accessory shop, armor shop, synthesis shop, and also an ice cream shop which were he will be buying his favorite 'sea salt ice cream'.

Now his holding his sea salt ice cream he bought and he staring at it while saying, "It's been weeks or months that I haven't taste this babies!" He is about to take a bite but he stop there for a second and said to himself, "No I shouldn't eat it here. I should eat it at the clock tower like always"

Attis is headed to the Station Plaza which shows the town's distinctive Clock Tower. When he arrived he looked up to the clock tower on the sky he saw two individuals wearing the same coat as him he thought, 'It must be Xelon and Xolla might as well greet them.'

He went inside the clock tower and then used the stairs to reach to the top of the tower. Upon reaching to the top he saw the twins are sitting outside of the huge clock discussing each other while eating sea-salt ice cream. Attis decided to surprise them from behind.

The twins continue staring at the sunset. Xelon sigh and said, "If only Xaitts were here." Then Xolla said, "It's not the same without him"

"Did someone call my name?" The twins heard a familiar voice from behind. When they look back he saw Attis which he say, "Surprised!" The twins were startled they lose balance and they were about to fall but Attis managed to grab their shoulders to prevent them from falling. He sighs and said, "What's the matter it's like you've seen a ghost?"

"Xaitts you're here!" Xelon was surprised to see him so does Xolla, "Jeez you startled us!" Attis laughed and said, "Well sorry I couldn't help it" He sat right next to Xelon then start eating his sea salt ice cream. He smiled when he taste his favorite flavor. Then he said, "Looks like the three of us are now together eating ice cream and looking at the sunset"

"Yeah just like we use too" Xelon nodded in response. Xolla added with a sad expression, "But were still missing one" The whole atmosphere became silent knowing what Xolla meant in reality they used to be four of them using the clock tower as there meeting place where they would sit and talk about their missions, or discuss whatever came to mind while eating sea-salt ice cream during their time at the Organization. Attis decided to change the subject he asked the twins, "So How things are doing in America with Clarabell?"

"It's great! We been helping her shop" Xelon replied with enthusiasm. Xolla added, "And we been living at her Mansion for months and it was fantastic!" Attis pause a bit and asked, "Wait she has a mansion?" She replied, "Yeah. But Clarabell-san's Mansion is well hidden in the forest surrounding with fog cause with her Magic. So no one would ever enter without her permission." Attis sigh and thought, 'I know she has a shop at America but a Mansion'

Xelon said, "By the way we met your older sister Allys-san" Attis looked at Xelon and asked,"Really?..." He replied weakly, "Yeah, She was very strict and scary when I met her." Then Xolla continued with a look of admiration, "But she is so strong and beautiful!"

Attis looked at Xolla who admired her older sister. He remembered something in his past before he become a Nobody and join the Organization. He was part of an organization called SeeD a mercenary force for hire, conducting missions around the world as battle support and undercover operatives and it's also famous in the realm of the in between.

He remembered that his older sister was a strong fighter and many admired and fear her and also her beauty was describe as a yamato nadeshiko that even the same gender is attracted to her and her figure describe was just like a model. As for Attis, he was also a strong fighter like his older sister and also he was the center of attention to all the females at Seed for being cute, handsome, and also for being Allys' little brother much to his annoyance.

Xelon look at the sunset with a serious expression, "We told Clarabell-san and Allys-san everything about the Organization" Xolla added, "And their willing to help us. Also Allys-sama said that the SeeD will also aid us of our fight against Organization XIII." Attis was surprised that the SeeD is willing to help us after everything that happen in the past during his time at the Organization.

"But we need to get stronger" Xelon clench his fists and Xolla said, "We had been training inside Clarabell-san's mansion for months" Attis raise a brow and asked, "Training?" Xelon replied with a smile, "Yeah and the ones who's training us none other than Clarabell-san and Allys-san"

Attis couldn't help but smiled at the twins. He knows the twins abilities since the three of them are used to be part of the Organization XIII. The twin brother specialized in black magic and the twin sister specialized in white magic. But when it comes to physical abilities are quiet low but they still have an ability called 'twin cast' which they can summon a powerful spell as long as there together. Now they are training themselves to become stronger since they're teachers are the strongest wizard Clarabell Mcdowel specialized any kind of magic and strongest fighter his older sister Allys Hale specialized in physical combat.

Xelon asked, "So how things happen to your end Xaitts? Did you find the Mermaid Princesses?" Attis sigh and replied, "Well a lot happened?" He tells the twins about him living an apartment and working at a restaurant. The twins couldn't help but laugh but Attis on the other hand was a bit jealous of the twins that are now living a life of luxury. He also told them about the Mermaid Princesses, Taro Mitsuki, Water Demons, Heartless, and nobodies he encountered.

"Whoa. But the one surprises me is that the Mermaid Princesses can defeat Heartless and Water Demons by Singing!" Xelon couldn't hard to believe about that part of what Attis said to him. Attis shrug and said, "No matter how many times I witness it. I still find hard to believe it myself" Then Xolla asked, "Can they defeat Nobodies" He shook his head and replied, "No they can't" She understood the words he meant she just say, "I see. But the one surprised me the most is this Taro Mitsuki-san you mention. That he has the same ki as the Superior." Attis stare at the sunset and said, "Yes he has the same ki as him but Mitsuki-san is a normal guy and I'm currently observing him for now" The three continued staring at the sunset while eating sea salt ice cream.

Then Xolla suddenly said, "I always wanted to meet a mermaid in person but we were too busy with our training" Xelon sighs and said, "Yeah" Attis assured them by saying, "How about tomorrow then since my day off from work is up till tomorrow. I can pick you up here at twilight town" But Xelon shook his head, "Sorry we can't we rarely visit twilight town because of our training and also we're preparing ourselves for the Exams"

Attis tilt his head and asked, "Exams?" Xolla replied, "Yeah. We're taking exams at Balamb Garden and become a SeeD just like you and Allys-sama" Attis was surprised at that then he asked, "Aren't you two still 10 or 11 years old?" But Xelon shouted him, "Hey! Didn't you start becoming a SeeD at the same age as us the same goes for Allys-san"

He couldn't help but sigh about Xelon said was true since he and his older sister start becoming SeeD at an early age. After finish eating his sea salt ice cream he stand up and said to the twins, "Well it's time for me to go back"

"What you're leaving already" Xelon said while Xolla continued, "Just stay a bit longer and chat it's your day off we rarely see you here." He shrugged and said sarcastically, "Well someone has to protect those singing obsess Mermaid Princesses." Then he pick something in his pocket which it is a card written something and gave it to the twins and said, "Here this is the Address of my Apartment and my number if you decided to drop by." Xelon took the card then Attis engulfed himself with the corridor of darkness the last thing he says, "Good Luck with the exams. I know you two can pull it off." With Attis gone Leaving the twins with a smile for his words of encouragement.

* * *

_Beachside_

Attis teleported back to the forest and made his way out of the clearing and back to the beach, making sure to get changed along the way.

It was around sunset the same as Twilight Town but in that world it's stuck in endless sunset, with its sun always in the same position in the sky, never rising nor setting. Attis was walking along the beach, thinking about the twins becoming SeeD but knowing them they always pull it off when they're together. Attis didn't even realize he was even walking until he saw Rina sitting alone at the beach. Curious as to what she was doing there, Attis walked up to her and cautiously said, "Rina-san?"

Rina looked up and said, "Attis-san? What are you doing here? "Attis replied, "I was searching for something in that forest over there," He pointed to the forest that he had come from, which was quite a distance away, "And it took the better part of the day, and I guess I zoned out while I was walking." Then he thought, 'In truth I was just hanging with my friends at Twilight Town after that'

"Is that so…" Rina said, sounding a bit out of it herself and continue looking at the ocean. Attis notice she has lot on her mind right now and she doesn't have a smile on your face.

Attis looked at the sunset and say, "Looking at this sunset reminds me of hanging around with my friends where we would sit down and talk about stuff, or discuss whatever came to mind." He looked at Rina and said, "You should be open minded to Lucia-san and Hanon-san they're your friends after all. And friends always help each other"

Rina raised an eyebrow at that then He felt a bit weak and said, "I'll see you later Rina-san. I feel exhausted right now." Rina waved at Attis as he walked away towards the street. Looking out to the ocean and the sunset, Rina said, "I wonder I should tell Lucia and Hanon about it one day"

* * *

_Beach City_

The next day, Attis went to the forest first to check if there are any dusks lurking in the area but there was nothing there he sigh since they were the perfect work out training since there is nothing else he can do in his day off.

After checking the forest, he started walking towards the beach again, taking a walk to clear his head. Then he thought of going in the city to explore a bit and to see something that will spend his time.

Then he saw Rina walking in the other side of the street wearing the dress that saw her wearing a few days ago back at the restaurant. She also carries a small bag. He thought, 'Looks like she made up her mind'

Rina continued walking until she reached the building where the competition was taking place which she entered. Attis saw her enter the building he thought, 'so that's we're the competition takes place….' He continue staring at the building and shrugs, 'Might as well see it since I have nothing else to do' He went to the building were Rina entered

* * *

_Building – competition hall_

As he entered and went through the hall where all the audience he noticed that Eriru was there and thought, 'This can't be good, especially with that stereo in her hand…'

Making his way out of the hall, Attis made his way to the back stage when all of a sudden, there was this weird melody flowing through the hall. It didn't affect him, though he found the music to be quite irritating. Knowing that it was probably a ploy to draw out the Mermaid Princesses, Attis went into a spare room and got changed to his coat left. Then he headed for a flight of stairs that led to the top of the main hall, where the lights were located.

When he got there, the lights suddenly went out, and when they turned on again, Attis saw that the three Mermaid Princesses were in their idol forms.

Eriru saw the three princesses appeared and said, "So you've appeared, little Mermaid Princesses!" Then she turned around and said with a different expression, "I've been waiting!"

"Bad music sense that hurts mermaids won't be allowed!" Lucia displeased by Eriru's bad music. Eriru angrily, "Who exactly has bad sense?" She went to her stereo. "Listen closely to whether it's bad or not!" She turned up the volume on her stereo, making the music louder making the Mermaid Princesses covering their ears to prevent them from singing. This just ticked Attis off as he subconsciously materialized Xatana.

Taking aim, Attis threw Xatana right at the stereo, making the Black Sword spin around as it was thrown. Xatana landed right on the stereo, slicing it in half, which surprised the heck out of everyone. Eriru looked around until she looked up, as well as the Mermaid Princesses, and they saw Attis sitting on one of the bars with his arms crossed. She shouted, "You again! How dare you destroy my stereo!"

With Eriru distracted, Rina started singing.

_Nagareboshi ni negai wo kaketa_

Hanon was singing after Rina as well

_Nanatsu no hikari mitsukedashite_

Lucia was also singing as well.

_Hanarebanare ni natta JUERII SUTAA_

Then together they sing.

_Unmei to iu kizuna wo shinjiteru_

Lucia said to Rina at her side, "Rina! Do the Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!" In response Rina nodded

_Tsumetai nami ni toketa_  
_Namida no yukue wa_

This immediately had an effect on Eriru and she started to squirm in pain. Attis just stood there, and as the song kept going, he notice Rina is now the lead singer while Lucia and Hanon giving support.

_Darenimo kidzukarenai mama_  
_Sotto awa to kiete itta_

_Nakushita mono o sagashiteru_  
_Kokoro ga setsunai_

Eriru started to spin. Attis laugh a bit but he also observed that there is no heartless in the hall which he fined it a bit odd.

_Midori no ame ni tsutsumarete_  
_Utai tsudzukeru Song for You_

Eriru is now spinning like a top while Attis continue to observed and wondering why the heartless didn't show up.

_Umarekawaru asa ga kuru nara_  
_Onaji inochi o mata ikitai_  
_Meguriaeru subete no mono ga_  
_Houseki ni naru kiseki o shinjiteru_

Eventually, the song ended Lucia saying their catchphrase, "Love Shower Pitch!" then together with Hanon and Rina, "How about an encore?"

"Now you've done it! If it wasn't for that guy none of this would happen!" Eriru disappeared in a flash, along with Xatana which reappeared in Attis' hands. Everyone in the audience applauded at their performance, while the three Princesses were wondering why the Heartless didn't show up. A moment later they waved at the audience before the lights went out. When they came back on everything was back to normal, though Attis was still sitting on the bar overhead looking out for the Heartless.

The show went on and eventually the winner was announced to be Ishibashi, with Rina beside him. Attis clapped at that too as he thought, 'Well, that's just weird, the Heartless didn't show up….'

Thankfully, the black coat didn't make Attis stand out as he got up and carefully walked towards the stairway. Then he quickly made his way to the spare room and got back into his regular clothes, and headed to the hall way and exit since he thought the contest is over.

* * *

_Beachside_

A while later, Attis at the beach sitting on the railing wall that separated the elevated sidewalk from the beach. He thought about what happened at the competition and was thinking, 'I wonder why the Heartless didn't show up. Maybe the Mermaid Princesses start singing before they appeared or the Organization had something in mind….'

That's when Attis heard footsteps approaching, and saw Rina and Ishibashi walking together. On the lifeguard stand nearby he saw Lucia and Hanon climb up and started watching the two. Wondering what it was about, Attis listened in on the conversation, in which he heard Ishibashi say, "Rina-chan…I don't know what kind of past you have, but…because I can't make you forget about it…"

Attis wondered what Ishibashi was talking about when he said out of the blue, "Please go out with me!" This caught Attis by surprise, but smirked afterwards when he heard Rina say, "I can't do that."

Ishibashi looked surprised at that and Attis looked up to see Rina with a serious look on her face as she stated, "From the very start, I had no interest in love, or dressing up. Sorry." With that Rina walked away from Ishibashi as he said, "No way…"

Attis almost laughed at that as he turned back towards the ocean sunset. Rina walked over to his location and as she passed, Attis couldn't help but say, "Quite the man-killer, aren't you Rina-san?"

Rina stopped and asked, "…What are you doing here Attis-san?" Attis continued to look out at the sunset and said, "Just watching the sunset." He pointed at the lifeguard post where Lucia and Hanon were standing. "And I also saw Lucia-san and Hanon-san at the life guard post when I heard you're conversation by accident"

Rina notice them at the life guard post then Attis said, "There quite worried about you." Rina just sigh and smiled then she called out, "Oi Lucia, Hanon, could you two come over here for a bit?"

Attis saw the two get down from the post and walk towards them Attis smiled and stand up from the railing wall were he sat, "It's time for me take my leave" Rina asked, "Where are you going?" He replied while walking the opposite direction while saying, "I have something else to do. So just enjoy watching the sunset with your friends"

As He continue walking he look back a bit and saw Rina sitting on the railing wall along side Lucia and Hanon watching the ocean. He couldn't help but smiled at the scene.


	12. Chapter 12 Wish for a Heart

Chapter 12 Wish for a Heart

_Maki's restaurant_

It was the end of Attis' shift and he was getting ready to head home, when Maki approached him and said, "Sorry about this Attis, but could you do me a favor?"

Attis looked up and said, "What is it Maki-san?" Maki looked at him and said, "I need you to go to this island tomorrow." He handed Attis a brochure which showed an island that had a legend about a wishing ring. Attis joked, "Are you asking me to look for this legendary wishing ring Maki-san?"

Maki laughed at that and said, "No, no, I was there yesterday after I closed the restaurant early." Attis remembered that, since Maki closed the restaurant at the same time Attis got off work. Maki went on, "I forgot a cooler back at the shacks on the island. What I'm asking is could you please bring it back to me please? I'll be giving you the day off tomorrow so you can go."

Thinking about it for a moment, Attis replied, "Sure, it's no problem for me." Maki looked relieved at that and said, "Thank you very much. I'll have a boat waiting for you at the marina tomorrow, here's the address." Maki handed Attis a piece of paper with Attis replying, "Don't worry about it Maki-san, I'll get it back for you."

* * *

_Island_

The next day, Attis was on the island Maki was talking about and was right where the wooden cabins were. From what Maki told him, he had left the cooler in one of the cabins, and luckily he was able to get permission from the owner before the people who had reserved the cabins arrived.

Managing to find it quickly, Attis was about to head back when he saw a group of people walking up to the cabins, most of which looked like middle school students. Looking closely, he identified a few people that were in front, namely Taro and Kaito. However, Attis headed back to the boat since the cooler is in his arms, and figured that there was something inside it but it wasn't a problem for him since his physical strength is high from the beginning when he was human but due to being a 'nobody' his strength has reach to near superhuman levels.

After putting the cooler on the boat, Attis looked at the island while taking out the brochure and thought, 'I wonder about this legend of the wishing ring… Since I have the day off, I might as well check it out.' With that Attis decided to change into his coat for some reason, since he didn't want to be recognized by most people.

However, as Attis walked past the beach, the forest didn't completely hide him when Lucia turned around after hearing a twig snap. Looking around, Lucia saw Attis' back for just a moment before he vanished behind a tree. Hanon saw Lucia looking into the forest and asked, "Lucia, what's wrong?"

"Uh, I think I just saw Xaitts-san over there." Lucia replied, pointing into the forest. Hanon and Rina turned around to look but they saw nothing, making Rina say, "You're probably just imagined it Lucia. I mean, what would that person be doing here?"

"Maybe those water demons are on the island. And don't forget the Heartless, Nikora-san did say that they do pop up randomly here and there." Hanon replied, "You really don't trust Xaitts-san, don't you Rina?"

"Of course not, I mean that person hides his identity from us, and he claims that he's here to protect us from our enemies. Who knows what that person's true intentions are." Rina told them.

"But he did give you the Mermaid's eye, all he's ever done is protect us and he has helped us a few times too!"." Lucia said, "Then again he did say he didn't care whether we trust him or not"

There was a moment of silence before Rina sighed and said, "…Let's just get off it for now. Maybe things will reveal themselves in time." Lucia and Hanon nodded and they went back to watching their classmates play in the ocean, though they did wonder why Rina didn't trust 'Xaitts', even thought he had helped them quite a few times.

Meanwhile, following the directions on the brochure, Attis found himself in front of a cave that was near a purple rock. Why the rock was purplish, he would never figure out as he looked into the cave and thought, 'I can feel something faint in there, but what is it?' Being drawn by the faint feeling, Attis walked into the cave, ready to explore.

* * *

_Cavern_

After a while, Attis was still walking through the caverns and thought, 'Damn, I think I'm lost. I swear I saw that rock formation three times already.' Giving a sigh, Attis sat down on a nearby boulder to take a break. As he sat there he thought, 'Never thought I'd get lost in a cave, though I'd admit that this isn't the first time this happened…'

Suddenly the cave started to shake and Attis heard a few explosions in the distance. He had to jump out of the way as a boulder landed on the one he was just sitting on, cracking the two rocks in half. Looking around he thought, 'That wasn't normal, for sure. Hmm, is it the water demons, the Heartless, or the Nobodies?'

Attis made his way to the source of the noise, but got sidetracked when he saw a light shine through a crack. Getting curious, he approached the crack and peered through it. He saw that there was something on the other side, so he stepped back and ready his leg he muttered, "Hope this works!"

He kicked it hard, the force made the crack crumble, turning it into a hole that Attis was able to walk though. As he got through, Attis saw that he was in a cavern bathed in a golden light, and there was what seemed to be an oddly shaped stone tablet in the middle of the room, that had what looked like ancient writing.

As Attis approached the tablet, he didn't notice that Hippo was hiding behind it, watching him walk towards the tablet. Hippo thought to himself, 'Who is that?' Meanwhile Attis was looking at the ancient writing as he whispered, "I wonder, is this the place where that wishing ring is supposed to be?" Then he thought, "If it's true then it might grant my wish."

Suddenly there was an explosion and Attis instinctively hid himself behind the tablet as Yuri and Eriru appeared from an entrance they created. Looking down he saw Hippo shaking a bit, which made Attis wonder how the penguin got into this part of the cavern. Attis looked down at Hippo and pressed a finger to his lips as they heard Yuri say, "It seems like we've found the place!"

Then Eriru saw the tablet up ahead and said, "Something's up there…" Yuri saw it too and said, "You're right." Attis and Hippo wondered what they were talking about when Eriru said, "There's some complex characters written up there." Then they heard Yuri say, "Let's see…oh, I get it now!"

Attis and Hippo were quite surprised at that as Eriru asked, "You can read all that?" Then they heard Yuri reply, "It says to sing a song in front of the altar." For a second, Attis felt his jaw drop and thought, 'Are mermaids that obsessed with singing?'

Yuri cough and said, "Well then, if you'll excuse me." "Wait!" Eriru cut her off which annoy Yuri, "What are you yelling about?" Eriru shouted, "It's my treasure, so it should be My song, duh!"

Then Yuri and Eriru started arguing over the treasure, which made Attis say, "Now that sounds quite interesting!" The two abruptly stopped talking and Eriru shouted, "Who's there?!"

Attis stepped out from behind the tablet and said, "So the requirement for getting the wishing ring is just to sing? That sounds interesting enough." Yuri shouted, "You?!" but Eriru looked at Attis for a second before she shouted, "Ah, you're the person that's allied with the Mermaid Princesses!"

A smirk came from Attis under his hood as she said, "Oh so remember me and I first thought you water demons are a bunch of idiots" Attis said with a mocking attitude which cause Yuri and Eriru fuming in anger. The two water demons were on their guard as Yuri said, "Eriru! If we work together we can beat him."

'If they could beat me' Attis thought to himself. Then he noticed something behind them and smirked saying, "Oh, I'm not the one that's going to be fighting you ladies." Yuri and Eriru were confused as Attis pointed behind them and said, "They're going to be the once 'fighting' you."

The two water demons turned around to see the three Mermaid Princesses are now in Idol form standing behind them at the opening.

Hanon stare at the two and said, "Although I don't know what you're planning…" Rina added, "We won't let you do as you wish!" then Lucia added, "Exactly! Prepare yourselves!" as they turned around to face them.

The Mermaid Princess were about to sing, and Attis had the sudden feeling that he should back away. "Mermaid Princesses… why are you here?"Eriru puzzled by their appearance. Yuri assured her while holding a jar while saying, "This is perfect; we can capture the mermaid's voices in the spirit jar!" Attis noticed that Yuri had some kind of jar in her hands which made him think, 'What the heck is that…?'

The Mermaid Princesses say their starting catchphrase, "Here we go, Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start"

_Nanairo no kaze ni fukarete_

Attis watched the scene, he noticed the two water demons seem okay, he thought, 'Why are they not screaming in pain' He continue to observe the two.

"Amazing, we really are okay!" Eriru smiled happily that she can't hear their singing. Yuri chuckle but it didn't last long when the spirit jar that she held started to swell in size, which surprises her and Attis notice it.

Eriru notice it as well, "Huh? It bulged out" Yuri looked at the spirit jar she held and said, "This is proof that it is sucking energy in." Then it grew ridiculously big which startled them.

_Yoake mae kikoeta MERODII_

"What's happening?" Eriru is now confused while she held the huge spirit jar. So does Yuri, "I don't know! Don't ask me" The Spirit Jar continued grows big which they couldn't keep it under control.

_Higashi no sora he to habataku toritachi_

Eriru and Yuri couldn't handle it any longer until it burst from overloading. Attis couldn't help but laugh at that.

_Nanatsu no umi no rakuen  
Arashi no yoru no ato ni wa ai wo tsutaeru tame inochi ga mata umareru_

The two water demons are now covering their ears and now suffering the effects of the songs. Attis observed the whole thing he thought, 'They really are Idiots.' As he continue to observed he notice the Heartless didn't appeared, 'I might take a guess that the Organization didn't bother checking this placed'

_Nanatsu no kuni no MERODIA  
Daremo ga itsuka wa koko wo tabidatsu hi ga kitemo_

Yuri and Eriru are now screaming in pain with tears.

_Watashi wa wasurenai_

The Mermaid Princesses singing came to a close with Lucia saying their signature catch phrased, "Love Shower Pitch!"

"That spirit bottle was useless!" Eriru argued while Yuri talked back, "I didn't hear any ideas from you!"

The Mermaid Princesses saying their ending catch phrase, "How about an encore?"

"I don't know why, but I'll pass. I'm sorry!" Eriru said, holding up his hands in defense. Eriru fuming in anger but she regain her composure and said, "I'll let you have the win this time!" grumbled in defeat as they vanished from the cavern, while Attis shook his head.

Suddenly the writing on the tablet flashed for a second before it faded but no one seemed to notice, at the same time he felt a magical energy behind the tablet, as Lucia said, "I knew that I wasn't seeing things! What are you doing here Xaitts-san?" Attis replied, "Well, I came to check out the legend of the wishing ring, if you must know."

Suddenly there was a shout and everyone turned to the source, only to see Hippo standing in front of a pile of cake. Attis went over to where the magical energy he felt before it vanished. The only thing he saw is Hippo started eating the mountain of cake like a starved man, while Attis went up to the Mermaid Princesses, and said, "Mmh, by the way, do you know that penguin?"

The three Mermaid Princess looked at each other for a second as they saw Hippo eating the mountain of cake. Then Lucia said, "Uh, yeah, he's my pet Hippo…" Attis laughed a bit at that, even though he knew it already. As he looked at the Hippo the cake his eating he wonder why a mountain of cake appeared inside the cavern then he thought, 'Could it be the magical energy that I felt before it disappeared is that penguin manage to grant his wish'

Attis sigh and said, "Looks like your pet managed to grant his wish before I do." He continued to sigh, "So much for granting my wish."

"So what is your wish then?" Rina asked since she was curious why he is here in the first placed. Attis just pause and thought about it.

He became very quite the Mermaid Princesses were curious as to what Attis' wish they just stare at him even his face is hidden by his cloak. The whole atmosphere become quite. Hanon spoke up, "Ah, Xaitts-san?"

Attis thought about his wish he placed his right hand on his chest and answered, "To be whole again" He said it without thinking straight.

The Mermaid Princesses were puzzled by his answer. "To be whole again?" Rina didn't understand his answer. Lucia asked, "What's that mean Xaitts-san?"

He shook his head and said, "Nothing. Forget of what I said" He turned his back and engulfed himself with the corridor of darkness while saying; "The three of you should head back along with your pet. And I'm sure you have other things to attend to, am I right?"

Lucia put a hand to her mouth and said, "Kaito!" Then she bolted off before Hanon or Rina could say anything, then they turned around, only to find that Attis had disappeared to. Then Hanon said, "Those two sure know how to disappear quickly huh?"

"Ha, never mind them, let's just take Hippo and get back to where everyone else is." Rina said. She and Hanon turned to Hippo, only to see that the mountain of cake was gone, and Hippo was on the floor sleeping with a full belly. They shook their heads as Hanon and Rina transformed back and picked up the penguin before they left.

Attis teleported back to the forest were he started and dematerialize his coat and made his way back to the boat that Maki had lent him with the cooler on board.

* * *

_Maki's restaurant_

Attis walked into the restaurant shortly after five with the cooler in hand. Maki, who was manning the counter, saw him walk in and looked relieved when he saw the cooler. Attis approached the counter and put the cooler down beside him saying, "I got the cooler. Is this the right one Maki-san?"

Maki nodded and replied, "Yes, it is. Thank you very much for getting it for me Attis. I need to remember to keep it with me when I go out." Attis nodded and said, "Well, at least you have it back."

"Yes…anyway, I see that you came back later than I thought. Did you actually go looking for the wishing ring?" Maki asked him. Attis had a slightly smug look on his face as he replied, "Well, I did find something, but there was no ring, that's for sure…" Then he thought, 'I can't say that a penguin found it and used it to wish for cake…'

Maki smiled and said, "Well at least you came back in one piece. I wouldn't know what to do if one of my employees went missing on a simple errand." Attis rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever, I'll see you later Maki-san."

"See you." Maki said as Attis left the restaurant. Outside Attis looked at the ocean and thought, 'Until now I still yearn for the heart to be complete again…. Well it is typical for a Nobody. I wonder the twins still yearn for the heart' with a sigh, Attis started to walk back to his apartment.

* * *

_Attis' apartment_

After having dinner, Attis got changed and went to bed, but before he fell asleep, he said to himself, "I wonder if there is a way to reclaim back our hearts and to be whole again" He continue to think any possible solution but the only thing he can think of is one thing. He muttered, "Kingdom Hearts"

Feeling frustrated, Attis shook his head, "No we made a promise to her to set Kingdom Hearts free." Attis started dreaming when he fell asleep.

* * *

_Dreamstate flashback_

The Organization is gathered at the 'Altar of Naught' which is a giant tower that is high above the rest of the 'Castle That Never Was'. Standing in front is none other the leader of the organization the Superior his appearance is like all the Organization members, he wears the basic black coat, boots, and gloves. He has amber-orange eyes and dark skin. His hair is long with a styled messy, vertical spikes reaching to about mid-back, silver in color, and some of it falls over his shoulders with two bangs framing his face.

Behind him are the Organization Members which consist of; at left side there is Attis, the twins, and a girl who's the same age as the twins with long black hair with blue eyes and at the right side there is Helsax, and other three members.

The Organization was now staring at the sky above looking at the Heart shape moon. The Superior made his speech, "The time has arrived."

He raises his arms high. "And at long last, we see before us the great collection of hearts. Hearts full of rage...hate...sadness...and bliss. Shining down upon us is the crystallization of all hearts-Kingdom Hearts. There, in the sky, hangs the promise of a new world."

He lowers his arms and faces the group, "My friends! Let us gain further power, to conquer the human heart, and claim it as our own. Let us remember why we are here and what we hope to achieve. Hearts shall be gathered, and be made our own. Hearts shall never again have power over us."

The Organization Members listened to his speech which it gave meaning to it and they continue to stare at the great heart shape moon.

* * *

This woke up Attis the next morning, He sigh and face palm, "Kingdom Hearts is still incomplete. They still need the seven mermaid princesses along with their pearls….. But I will not let that happen"


	13. Chapter 13 Mermaids left the Island

Chapter 13 Mermaids left the Island

_Beachside_

Attis was sitting by himself at the beach, staring at the ocean sunset. It's been a bit over a month since he had started protecting the Mermaid Princesses from their enemies. Not to mention working at Maki's restaurant too and Attis couldn't remember how things got so complicated. He got up and decided to walk to the forest.

That's when he ran into Kaito, who was just saying bye to his friends, who walked off in the opposite direction. Attis walked up to him saying, "Hi Kaito, what's up?" Kaito turned around and said, "Oh Attis, I take you heard?"

"About what?" Attis asked. Kaito looked at him and saw that Attis had no clue what he was talking about, so he told him, "Lucia's 14th birthday is on July 3rd, and we're throwing her a birthday party." An 'oh' formed on Attis' lips as he said, "I see, wow, I didn't know that."

"Me neither, until Hanon told me and my friends about it." Kaito said. Then an idea came to him and he asked, "Hey, we're going to rent a beach house for the party and decorate it, so why don't you help us Attis?"

Attis had to decline saying, "Sorry Kaito, but I have work for most of the day. I will come to the party however, that I can promise you." Kaito nodded and said, "I understand Attis. Well, at least you'll be at the party then. I'll see you later, I need to plan a few things first."

"Yeah, see you." Attis said as Kaito ran off. Then he thought to himself, 'So Lucia's going to turn 14 in a few days huh? That's interesting to know…' With that Attis walked off to the forest so he could teleport to twilight town since today is his day off.

* * *

_Twilight Town_

He teleported at the side street of twilight town wearing his coat without covering his face and decided to check things at tram common if there is interesting to buy since every time Attis go to twilight town he only buys Sea salt Ice cream. So this is a chance to explore the shops.

Attis explored every shop in tram common. He looked at the accessory shop run by Jessie a resident of twilight town. As he looked at the accessories displayed he can feel their magical energy since this shop contains items that can be useful in battles and some are just plain items. But unfortunately the prices are high. He sighs and thought, 'This things are too expensive'

He took out his wallet and look at his allowance. Unfortunately all the money he gained from work was enough to support him since his living alone in an apartment. He shook his head and continued exploring other shops.

There was an armor shop run by Biggs another resident of this town. Attis looked at the equipment but he didn't have much interest in it since he thought that wearing armor will slow him down since he rely on his speed and his swordsmanship in battle and he only wears light equipment which are magical imbued.

And lastly Attis decided to check at the synthesis shop owned by Elmina the Moogle. When he looked at the shop he didn't find the shop owner which is a Moogle name Elmina. He knew that moogles are interesting creatures that can create magical items. He thought that Elmina left so she can search for ingredients to create some items.

Since the shop owner isn't around He decided to explore around tram common. When he got to the right side of the town he saw a huge crack like cave on the wall. He knew where it leads which he entered it.

* * *

_Old Mansion_

Now he is roaming around the woods. Attis knew it will lead him to the entrance of an old mansion.

After getting passed the woods he looked at the entrance gate of the Old Mansion he remembered that Twilight Town is the birthplace of all human-form Nobodies. When they are first "born", they arrive in front of the manor gates, in the clearing of the woods. Here, a previously born Nobody greets them and gives them their new name.

Attis remembered the one who greeted and recruited him was the Superior himself given him the name 'Xaitts' and rank VIII of the Organization.

As he continue remembering. Attis was the one who greeted and recruited the twins to the Organization. Xelon was rank XII and Xolla was rank XIII and along the way He himself was in charge of looking after them and teaching them since they become Nobodies at a young age but fortunately they were quite smart despite being young.

After remembering the past he head back to twilight town.

* * *

_The Woods_

As Attis was walking in the woods he heard a shout from above, "Kupo! Someone help kupo!" He looked up and saw a Moogle hanging in the tree branch surrounded by four flying heartless known as Bit Snipers. The Moogle was terrified as the Bit Snipers are getting closer, making Attis raise his right arm high and shouted, "Dark Firaga!"

Firing a Dark fire ball at one the Bit Snipers causing it to explode, the three Bit Snipers noticed Attis below and they suddenly fired a laser at him. But he managed to dodge the incoming laser and kept firing Dark Firaga. They were no match for him as all of three them were defeated since his using his strongest attack. Elmina was still holding the branch to prevent her from falling as Attis looked up and shouted, "Are you alright?!"

Then Moogle looked down and saw Attis and said, "Oh thank goodness kupo! I thought I was done for kupo! Thank you kupo!" Suddenly she loses her grip due to excitement and fall, "OH! NO KUPO!" Attis notice it he managed to catch the falling Moggle.

"Thank you for catching me Kupo" The Moogle feeling relieve. He put the Moogle down from his arms and said, "Don't worry about it. So, what's your name?"

The Moogle replied, "You can call me Elmina kupo!" Attis seemed surprised at that as he said, "Elmina? As in the owner synthesis shop"

"That's ME Kupo!" Elmina replied with enthusiasm. Then she asked, "What's yours Kupo?" He replied, "Attis Hale, but call me Attis"

Elmina notice Attis' attire and asked hesitantly, "Arrr Arren't you one of those Organization XIII guys Kupo?" Attis notice trepidation on Elmina, He shook his head and assured her, "Well I used to be but I left the Organization a few months now so don't worry about it."

"Thank goodness Kupo!" Elmina feeling safe once again and said, "I heard those guys are bad news kupo" Attis just sigh knowing what she meant, "Tell me about it."

Eyeing to her savior and said, "As a token of my gratitude of saving me kupo. I give some rare items free of charged kupo." Attis convincing the moogle, "It's Okay you don't need to-" But Elmina cut him off, "I insist kupo! Since you save my life I have to repay my dept to you so come to my shop kupo!"

Elmina leading the way to her shop at tram common Attis just sigh and follow the moogle to her shop.

* * *

_Twilight Town_

Inside Elmina's shop not only she can create items she has stored items on the shelf which she show it to Attis and said, "Pick whatever you like kupo"

Attis looked at the items at the shelf he felt magical energy in it. He looked at the glass ring and there is also a name tag including the details; 'Reflect Ring' if the user wears this it can reflect any type of magic.

'I think I'll pick this one' He taken out the Reflect Ring from the shelf and he took of his black glove on his left hand so he can wear it on his middle finger. He said to himself, "This might come on handy"

As Attis showing the ring he wears to the Moogle and said, "I think this all I need Elmina" Elmina replied, "If that's what you want then this is the token of my gratitude kupo!"

He leaves the shop while waving his hand. And he headed to station plaza when he arrived and looked up at the clock tower.

Attis notice no one is sitting at the clock tower he was hoping that the twins will be here. He sighs and thought, 'Looks like the twins are busy since they are training to get stronger not to mention they are becoming SeeD….. Might as well call it a day' He summon the Corridor of Darkness and left.

* * *

_Beach house_

A few days later, Attis headed over to the beach house where Kaito and the guys were busy setting up for Lucia's party. The reason for this was that Maki had told him after work yesterday that the restaurant was going to be closed for a month for a few renovations and repairs. This left Attis free for a while and Kaito asked him for a bit of help soon after.

Attis was introduced to Kaito's friends, Daichi and Kengo, and soon all of them got to work, However Daichi and Kengo had to leave early due to personal reasons, leaving Attis and Kaito to finish decorating. This took all day and soon the sun was starting to set, and that's when Lucia came by to tell Kaito something.

Overhearing the conversation, Attis heard Lucia tell Kaito about how she was going away on her birthday and wouldn't be able to have a party. From the tone of her voice, Attis could tell that Lucia was disappointed. Then Kaito called Attis over, which surprised Lucia since she didn't think he would be there. Attis said, "So, you're going back home on your birthday, right Lucia-san?"

Lucia nodded and said, "Yes, I'm sorry about it." Attis waved it off and said, "These things happen all the time, so it isn't your fault Lucia-san." Kaito nodded and said, "Why don't we take a walk Lucia?"

Lucia seemed happy at that and the two walked towards the beach with Kaito saying, "Attis, can you handle things for a bit?" Attis gave a nod and said, "Of course." Then Attis went back inside to continue decorating while Kaito and Lucia walked off to the beach.

Later, Kaito came back scratching his head and looking confused, and this made Attis ask, "Did something happen Kaito? You look a bit troubled if you ask me." Kaito looked at him and said, "Well, actually something did…"

Kaito went on to explain what had happened between him and Lucia and Attis couldn't help but wince and say, "Ah, maybe you shouldn't have joked around with her. You know girls tend to take things more seriously than guys do right?" Kaito nodded at that and said, "I suppose you're right…"

Then Attis said, "It sounded like Lucia was implying that she might not be able to come back if she went home though…" Kaito nearly slipped as he said, "W-what? Are you serious about that Attis?"

"I'm just speculating…" Attis told him. Then he said, "We'll figure that out later. First off we finish decorating this place for the party." Kaito gave a smile as he said, "Right!"

Soon, the entire place was decorated and Kaito said, "Now we can have her birthday party a day early." Attis nodded and said, "You got that right Kaito. She's sure going to be surprised by this."

The two left the house and locked the front door, with Kaito saying, "See you tomorrow Attis." Attis gave a nod and he watched Kaito walk off. Suddenly Attis felt something and saw a Dusk pop out from behind a nearby tree and scamper off. Attis kept his eyes on the spot as he kept on running towards the nearby woods.

When he got there, all he saw were just a couple of Dusks and three Creepers together. Wondering if they were spying on him, Attis summoned Xatana through his right hand, and charged right at them that caught their attention as the dusks instantly went on the offensive while each three creepers changing their respective form which is a large lance, a large sword, and a small, hexagonal shield.

Attis quickly defeated the Dusks he charged to his target the lance form creeper. As he about to strike it but the shield form creeper block and defending its fellow nobody then the sword form creeper was about to strike him at the back. But he noticed it and instinctively dodged out of the way then he notice the lance creeper try to impale him but he deflect it using his Xatana.

He continued attacking the three weapon form creepers but he grew irritated as the creepers always changing forms since they are using combination attacks as a group. He sigh and knew that Nobodies are more troublesome than heartless since they rely on their intelligent compare to Heartless rely on instinct. And he also knew the Dusks were bait to lure him to the woods in order slow him down since he rely on his speed at the same time Attis use the trees to block and hide also he didn't even bother using his full strength since his fighting low-ranking nobodies.

As Attis looked at the three creepers working as a group waiting for his next attacked. A smug look appear on his face and said with sarcasm, "Since you three like staying as a group" He raised his left hand and shouted, "Then why not stick together Magnega!" a vortex of magnetic force appeared between them that draws in the creepers. The Creepers tried to escape but fail due to the strong magnetic force which the three creepers stick together and preventing them from changing forms.

Attis notice this and use this chance to finish them off. The Creepers defeated by countless sword slashes and then dissipates and he looked around to see if there were any more, but nothing appeared, which made him think, 'To think they send the Creepers aside the Dusks….. I wonder if they decided to move'

Suddenly he saw light flash through the trees and when he turned around, Attis saw that the beach house somehow caught on fire. His eyes widening, Attis quickly ran towards the place as Xatana vanished from his hand.

When he got there Attis saw that Kaito was there, and firefighters had just arrived and started dousing the fire. He approached Kaito asking, "Kaito! What the heck just happened?" Kaito was just silent as they watched the firefighters put out the fire.

After the fire was put out, Kaito walked over the smoldering ruins, until his eyes fell upon the burnt surfboard that was going to be Lucia's present. Attis had no words to say and all he could do was walk away, and he headed back to his apartment speechless.

* * *

_Attis' apartment_

Back at the apartment, Attis lying on the couch while looking at the ceiling deep in thought, 'All the decoration we prepared for Lucia-san 14th birthday were burned to the ground' He sigh, 'How we goanna tell this to Lucia-san' His was now getting sheepish and fell asleep.

By the time Attis woke up early in the morning. Getting out of the couch, he went over to the room where and started preparing breakfast before going out. He decided to head over to Pearl Piari and tell Lucia the news, hoping that he would see her before she had left.

* * *

_Pearl Piari_

After heading out, Attis made his way to Pearl Piari as quickly as he could. When he got there, Attis was shocked to see that the place was closed down. Looking though the windows, he could see that the entire place was completely shut down, with no one in sight. Attis thought to himself, 'No one's here… That's odd, since Lucia said that she would be leaving on her birthday…'

Getting suspicious, Attis was about to turn around and leave when he saw Kaito walk up the place. He saw Attis and said, "Hey Attis, you're here to tell Lucia the news?" Attis nodded and said, "Yeah, but it looks like she already upped and left."

"What was that?!" Kaito shouted, and he went up to the windows to take a look inside, while Attis said, "I already checked it out. The place is completely deserted. Guess that had to leave earlier than expected."

Kaito was shocked at that and turned around whispering, "So she wasn't joking around at that…" Feeling concerned, Attis asked, "Kaito?" Kaito shook it off saying, "It's nothing Attis…" and he walked away silently. Attis gave a sigh and ran off back to the apartments, wondering if his suspicions were correct.

* * *

_Beach_

In the streets, Attis spent most of his time wandering around town, since he had no work at the moment. Eventually he wound up by the beach where he sat down on the railing and looked out to the ocean, seeing the sun high over it. And made him think, 'Ugh, they must've left due to a mermaid matter. Well they can take care of themselves since they can defeat both water demons and heartless.'

Then he remembered the Darkside they defeated months back which was able to resist to the mermaid's singing a bit and then the low ranking Nobodies, 'It'll be troublesome if a powerful heartless appeared to them and the Nobodies are becoming active lately.'

* * *

_Apartment_

Heading back to his apartment at the end of the day, When Attis reached his apartment suddenly low ranking Nobodies appeared, consisting of Dusks and Creepers. Also it looked like they had Attis surrounded, with each end cut off. Summoning Xatana, Attis shook his head and said, "They never learned…" Then he ran towards the closest Nobody and started attacking.

When all the lower ranking nobodies were defeated another appeared and there are four of them and their appearance is feminine wearing a pink mask to cover their face with a white upper half of a Nobody Logo, yellow blouse like jump suit with a white lower half Nobody logo in the chest area and pink bell-bottom pants. They also seem to wear dark, heeled boots with toes that point up at sharp, as well as dark bracelets on each wrist, both with a small spike on them. And they hold a sword like rapier in their right hands.

Attis was surprised and ready his Xatana, 'To think they are now sending the Fencers one of the High ranking Nobodies'

One of the Fencers rush towards him by thrusting it sword like rapier to his head. But Attis deflected it using his Xatana to the right to avoid being pierce to the head then he kick it in the midsection so hard that he send the fencer flying at the wall of his apartment.

Then the other three fencers are now begun attacking him together. Attis is now in the defensive and walking backwards slowly since the three fencers keep thrusting and swinging their sword like rapiers at him to his vital spot which is the head and chest and there not given him a chance to counter attack.

He in the other hand remains calm and observant while deflecting and dodging the three fencer's deadly sword strikes. He knew from the start that the Fencer Nobodies are very swift and agile but they are lacking in Magic Resistance and Defense. They rely on their speed and reflex in fighting.

He thought about using magic but he didn't due it will cause damage at his surroundings since his near to his apartment and his enemies are quite agile.

Suddenly the Fencer got kick by Attis earlier jump from behind the other three fencers that are busy attacking him and ready its rapier to pierce him from above but he jump back as far as possible to avoid it.

Now that the four Fencers are now together they rush towards him. Attis just sigh and said to himself, "It's time for me to get serious a bit" He run towards to the four High ranking Nobodies.

As the Fencers are about to strike him but he perform a high jump to avoid it and land behind to the two other fencers then he swing his Xatana horizontally slicing the two in half before they noticed and then dissipate.

The remaining two are about to attack him. But in a blink of an eye Attis dashes at the remaining Fencers, cutting their arms where they hold their rapier with a fast slash, and then he finishes them off with numerous quick slashes from all directions. Slicing them in pieces and then dissipates.

Attis looked at the fallen fencers that dissipate it made him think, 'To think they're sending the High ranking Nobodies… Then that means the Organization send one of their members….. And I know who it is.'


	14. Chapter 14 The Piercing Maiden

Chapter 14 The Piercing Maiden

_Beachside_

Attis is sitting on the beach, things going through his head. Today was Lucia's birthday, but she and the others were no longer around, and Attis still had no idea where they went. He had also noticed that everyone else was gone and wondered if it was really a mermaid matter that was being dealt with.

As he sat there, Attis heard a noise and looked up and around, until his eyes fell upon a pale pink dolphin, one which Attis recognized as Momo's mother.

That's when Attis heard a female voice inside his head saying, 'Sir, you are needed at the North Pacific Palace!'

'What? What was that?' Attis thought, looking around. Again the voice called out to him, 'I'm over here!' Attis turned around until his eyes fell upon the dolphin, which happened to be looking at him. He freaked out a bit as the dolphin said, 'Please sir this is urgent!'

Taken off guard by the sudden statement, Attis asked mentally, 'What are you talking about? And more importantly you can talk to me through my mind!'

'Aqua Regina-sama approached me in a dream and gave me the power to talk to you mentally but only in a short amount time and she told me that I should bring you to the North Pacific Palace for Princess Lucia's coming-of-age ceremony.' The dolphin told him. Attis' eyes widened a bit at that and repeated, 'Coming-of-age ceremony?'

'Yes, North Pacific Palace is currently under attack by Gaito and the Water Demons. The Aqua and Green Mermaid Princesses are with her, And Aqua Regina-sama felt someone who's immense with darkness is also there as well. She fears that it won't be enough if that person shows up…' The dolphin informed him.

'Well, at least that answers a lot of questions…' Attis thought. Then he asked, 'So, how do I get there exactly? I don't know where the palace is.' The dolphin replied, 'Don't worry about that, I'll take you there personally.' Then the dolphin turned around and motioned to Attis to get on its back.

A sigh came from Attis and said, "Might as well, but I'd better get changed first." Then he materialized the black coat and pulled his hood over his face. He got on the dolphin's back and swam off then went under the ocean.

* * *

_North Pacific Palace_

After a long time swimming, Attis reached what looked like a big pink palace, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was the North Pacific Palace. He was lucky that he always wear his necklace.

Then Momo's mother swam through what looked like the entrance, and he found himself in a place where it looked like there was air, which Attis found odd. Attis started walking and looked around the hall.

As he walked down the hall he notice a huge hole on the ceiling and the damages of the surrounding area is now cover with rubble, he thought, 'Looks like this Gaito and the Water Demons crash the place' He keep looking around and try to detect their presence as he continue walking, 'I can't felt that person's Qi… Then again knowing her she can conceal her presence'

As Attis continued walking along the way he detect a familiar presences are none other than the Mermaid Princesses, Nikora, Taki, The Penguin Hippo, and the Water demons but they were separated however the water demons are together and he also detect Kaito. It made him think, 'Why is Kaito here?'Then he detect something ahead, 'Wait I know this Qi its Lucia's. She must be ahead and there another Qi I felt….. Which I don't know who it is?'

He ran to where Lucia was by the time he made it he saw Lucia in mermaid form wearing a dress cornered on the pillar and her arms hold up high by a person who has spikey gray hair and pink eyes. He wears lightning earrings with a loosely attached black robe with black pants and pointy shoes. He has a dark red necklace.

"No! Let me go!" Lucia begged but the person in a black robe said, "I'll make a pet out of you just like the Arctic, and Southern Mermaid Princesses!"

Lucia asked, "Who are you" But he ignored her question and about to take her pearl necklace while saying, "This is your Princess Pearl, eh?" As he hold her pearl necklace she shouted, "No!"

But suddenly He got punched on the faced sending him flying a few meters and land on his back. As he got up slowly and rub his right cheek from being punch he notice a black hooded figure standing in front of Lucia.

Lucia noticed the hooded black coated figure, "Xaitts-san!" feeling glad that his here as Attis staring at the person in black robe down who he punched although held back the punch since if he used his full strength it will kill him without knowing anything.

Attis said to Lucia without turn, "Are you alright Pink Mermaid Princess" Lucia replied, "Yeah I'm fine thanks to you"

The Person in a black robe slowly getting up while rubbing his right cheek and glared at the Black Coated Attis and muttered, "So his the Person in a Black Coat my Dark Lovers mention" Then felt something and made his eyes widen, 'What is this…. I sense powerful energy coming from him…. And it's Darkness!' He stare Attis in awe, 'How could he possess this much darkness in him!'

"Gaito-sama!" He turns his attention to the ones who call his name which are the Dark Lovers swimming towards him. Attis noticed the Dark Lovers which he fined it odd not only can he breathe air inside the palace but swimming instead of walking. He turns his attention to Gaito, 'So his Gaito….. but he looks somewhat familiar'

"Lucia!" Rina and Hanon swam towards Attis and Lucia. The Dark Lovers stand besides Gaito as for Rina and Hanon stand besides Lucia while Attis is still in front of them staring at the enemy.

Rina noticed Attis and asked, "Xaitts-san, what are you doing here?" Hanon added, "Or how did you get in here?" He just replied, "A pink dolphin brought me here" which cause Mermaid Princess frowned from his answer.

The Dark Lovers notice Gaito holding his right cheek which is swollen a bit which cause them to panic, "Gaito-sama!" Gaito said, "It's just a scratch" As they turn their attention to their adversaries. The Dark Lovers noticed Attis. Eriru shouted, "Not him again!" Izuru added, "He always keep appearing" Yuri assured the two, "But there is nothing to worry about" Maria agreed, "Yeah as long we are together with Gaito-sama we can beat him and capture the Mermaid Princesses" Building up their confidence.

Attis just sigh and thought, 'They just don't know what I'm capable of. They really are idiots'

The Mermaid Princesses turn their attention to Gaito and the Dark Lovers. Rina noticed Gaito and shouted, "Gaito, it really is you!"

Gaito said calmly, "You're the one who got away… the North Atlantic Mermaid Princess…" In response Rina glared at him, "What?" while Hanon stare at Gaito and notice something, "Huh, I've seen his face somewhere before… Ahh! He looks like Kaito-kun!"

"Yeah" Rina nodded. As Attis continue to stare at Gaito and made him think, 'Now that she mention it he really does look like Kaito no wonder he looks familiar'

" You've all gathered now, Mermaid Princesses" Gaito standing confidently along with the Dark Lovers. Attis noticed Gaito's right cheek where he punched healed it made him think that Gaito can use magic.

As Gaito stared at the Black Cloaked figure it made him curious and asked, "Tell me who are you?" Attis replied, "….You can call me Xaitts" Then Gaito continue to asked, "Tell me why are allied yourself with the Mermaid Princesses" Attis was bit surprised by his question so does the Mermaid Princesses and the Dark Lovers as he continued, "I can feel that your immense with darkness in you something beyond that I ever seen my life. Why such a being of Darkness such as you allied yourself with them?"

The whole atmosphere become quite waiting for Attis' answer. The Mermaid Princesses were also curious for his answer since they heard Gaito said that he felt darkness in him.

Attis suddenly laugh which made everyone confused then he said, "To answer your question is that the Sea Goddess requested me to protect them" Gaito eyes widen by his answer as he continued, "And for your information as you said I'm immense with darkness in me but I don't belong to the darkness neither the light or better yet I'm shunned by both light and darkness"

Gaito is now confused by his answer so does the Dark Lovers and the Mermaid Princesses then he asked, "What do you mean by being shunned both light and darkness?" Attis just smiled under his hood even they can't see his face and said, "Let's just say I belong to the In-between the twilight"

They are all confused because of his answer doesn't make any sense then Attis said, "Then it's my turn asked questions what is it your trying to gain by capturing the mermaid princesses?" Gaito replied confidently, "Simple, I need all Seven Mermaid Princesses to take over the world but in order to do that I need them to revive the Sea Goddess so she can help me" Earning a glare by the Mermaid Princesses because of his twisted ambition.

As he continued, "Now I currently have the South Pacific Ocean Mermaid Princess and the Arctic Ocean Mermaid Princess all I need is to capture remaining ones" The Dark Lovers smiled proudly to his declaration while the Mermaid Princesses glared at him with disgust Rina shouted, "We will Never Assist you!"

Attis just sigh and thought, 'He doesn't know what's going on… Then again this what you expect from a mere pawn' then couldn't help but said sarcastically, "So let me get this straight the world will soon be taken over by a Playboy Prince and with the help of his fan girls which consist of; An Ice Fairy, a Spinning Idiot, an Old Hag, and an Imp" The Dark Lovers didn't like his derogatory attitude but Gaito remain calm but feel a bit insult by his words.

As He said, "How about this, why not free the Mermaid Princesses you captured or…." He start walking towards them while saying with an emotionless cold tone, "I'll just force you to free them"

Attis walking towards Gaito and the Dark Lovers, in response the Dark Lovers try to attack him together while shouting, "We won't let you!" The Mermaid Princess notice this and try to help Attis but he raised his right hand and said, "Magnera!" a vortex of magnetic force appeared between them that draws in the Dark Lovers.

The Dark Lovers tried to escape but fail due to the strong magnetic force which the four of them stick together and in different positions.

"Ugh, I can't move" Maria struggling to break free. "Hey! Watch your elbow" Izuru complaining. Eriru is between them, "Get off of me you two!" while Yuri is in the bottom of the tree, "You three are too heavy!"

Gaito was surprised so does the Mermaid Princesses of what Attis did to the Dark Lovers. In an instance Attis is now right in front of Gaito. He didn't react in time as Attis quickly grasps his neck with his right hand and lifts him up then started choking him. He tried to break free from the Black hooded Figure's grasp with his hands but unfortunately for him Attis tighten his grip since he has high physical strength due to being a Nobody which made things harder for Gaito.

"Gaito-sama!" The Dark Lovers are horrified seeing their master being choked by the black hooded figure. As Attis continue choking Gaito and began interrogating him with an emotionless tone, "So tell me where did you hide the other Mermaid Princesses" Gaito just glared and said, "As…If ….I'll …tell…you" In response Attis tighten his grip which Gaito scream a bit.

The Mermaid Princesses just stand there and watched the scene even though it was too violent and uneasy to them of seeing Attis' emotionless attitude but at the same time it was their only chance to know where Gaito keep the other Mermaid Princesses.

Attis continued interrogating Gaito but he still stubbornly refused to tell him. He sigh and turn then he slam Gaito to the mat causing his head to bounce back right in front of the Dark Lovers as they were horrified seeing Gaito being manhandled. Then he stomp his right foot in his chest to pin him down making sure he will not get up.

Gaito tried to get up but failed due to the level of strength that Attis display to his foot to pin him down. The Dark Lovers couldn't do anything to help their beloved Master due to being tied up to each other due to the spell Magnera.

As Attis stare Gaito down who's now lying on the mat then he turn his attention to the Dark Lovers knowing the Magnera spell will soon ware off and said, "If you care so much to your beloved master then tell me where did you keep the other Mermaid Princesses if you don't-" He raised his right hand and dark flames began ignite as the flames grew bigger a black sword appears which is his Xatana holding in his right hand and pointed it to Gaito neck while saying, "I'll severed his head from his body and present them to you"

All of them in present are taken aback by the sudden statement. The Dark Lovers were about to tell him but Gaito halted them and said, "Don't tell him…. I refused to be pin down by the likes of you." A weird mark appeared in Gaito's forehead but Attis stomp his foot to his midsection so hard that cause Gaito to gasp and the mark of his forehead vanished.

"Gaito-sama!" The Dark Lovers grow even more worried. Attis said without dropping his emotionless attitude, "I'll give you three seconds ladies and better spill it or else." He raised his Xatana while counting, "1...2….3!" As he swing his Xatana the Dark Lovers about to tell him while the Mermaid Princesses closed their eyes.

As Attis swing his Xatana through Gaito's neck but unexpectedly an icicle like daggers shot right in front of him which his instinct kicks in and force to block it by swinging his Xatana slicing the icicle like daggers but he was force to jump back a bit away from Gaito and he noticed the color of the ice are darkish purple.

"How about you should let him do as he pleased" Everyone heard a female voice. The Mermaid Princesses felt chill on their back as they turn around they were shock that the fountain is frozen but the color of the ice is darkish purple and also there is someone sitting at the top of the clam statue. They saw is a female who is very slim with an hourglass figure wearing black coat and gloves just like Attis with her hood on but revealing only her mouth and neck part, And wearing high heel black boots.

Gaito, who slowly standing up and looked up the one sitting at the top of the fountain and he felt the same level of darkness in her just like Attis, 'That person is the same as him…. Who or what are they!? Lucia shouted, "Who exactly are you? And when did you come from?!"The Female cloaked figure look down to the three Mermaid Princesses and said, "Oh, Hello their Pink Mermaid Princess. I must say this quite the party you been preparing. Mind if I join in"

Lucia was taken aback by her playful tone as Hanon and Rina went closer to Lucia, that's when Attis shouted, "Lexia!" Everyone turned around to see Attis shouting at the female cloaked figure name Lexia, "So the Organization decided to sent you"

Lexia giggle and say, "Well you already know why I'm here" Then she looked at the Mermaid Princess while saying, "I'm quite curious about the Mermaid Princesses that I heard so much in the report well it doesn't matter in the end they will play a big part in the near future… If you know what I mean Xaitts"

The three Mermaid Princesses looked from Lexia to Attis, not knowing what was going on. Gaito and the Dark Lovers were silent. That's when Lexia stands up at the top of the statue and raise her right hand and small particles of dark purple ice gather around her hand until it grew bigger in a flash a sword like rapier known as Shiva Rapier appear on his hand. Its color is dark purple and appearance is the blade resembles upper half of a nobody logo and its hilt resembles the lower half of the logo along with its hand grip.

She says, "Enough with the chit chat and let's get down to business" She disappeared in an instance from the fountain which surprised everyone except Attis was on guard then he felt a killing intent which is from above. Knowing who it is and didn't bother to see it instead he just jumped to the right side avoid the killing blow.

Lexia landed were Attis stand before he jumped out of the way piercing her weapon to the ground creating a small crater shocking everyone except Attis. As she stands up and removed her weapon from the ground she raised her left hand and snapped her fingers and three Neo Shadows popped out in front her. This made everyone's eyes widen and Hanon shouted, "Heartless?!"

Lexia turn her attention to Gaito and says, "Use the Heartless to accomplish your task since your servants are still tied up right now" Gaito was shock by her words so does everyone present except Attis since he knows her intentions from the start.

Gaito slowly getting up and confused by the sudden statement and asked, "Why are you?-" Then Lexia turned to the Neo Shadows and said, "You are to obey his commands, understood?"

There was a level of forcefulness in Lexia's voice that Gaito noticed, while the Neo Shadows bobbled up and down, looking like they understand. Then they walk over to Gaito's side. Then she dash towards Attis thrusting her rapier through his head but He deflected it using his Xatana to change its direction then he counter by kicking her in the midsection but she avoid the kick by jumping back and she dash towards him again with her rapier in her hands in response he dash towards her with his Xatana.

As the two clash their weapons rapidly and parry each other's attacks. Everyone watch the fight in awe. Gaito on the other hand staring at the three heartless which are waiting for him give them orders and he looked at Lexia battling Xaitts he couldn't well but feel amazed at the same time he noticed the Mermaid Princess looked distracted by the fight.

He stands up and use this chance while their distracted. He looked at the heartless and ordered them, "Heartless! Apprehend the Mermaid Princesses" The Neo Shadows comply by his words and meld to the shadows dashing towards the Mermaid Princesses who were distracted by the fight.

As the Mermaid Princesses were still staring at the fight but suddenly something appeared from their backs which are the Neo Shadows and each of them caught their respective princesses.

"When did they!." Lucia struggling get out from the Heartless grasps. "How careless we let ourselves get distracted!" Rina got irritated while struggling to get out. "Let go!" Hanon shouted while struggling from the heartless.

Gaito walks up towards them while saying, "Well it's time for me to collect my prized" Attis notice the Mermaid Princesses are now apprehended by the Neo Shadows and Gaito is approaching them, "I won't let you!" As he about to run towards them but a wall of ice appeared in front of him in an instant then he felt a killing intent on his back as he turn and see Lexia swing her rapier at him but he parried it with his Xatana.

The two are now in a deadlock Lexia say with a playful tone, "You shouldn't leave a lady alone you know" Attis got irritated and shouted, "Get out of the way!" Trying pushed her out of the way but failed due to her using combination of swordplay and ice magic.

As Gaito now stands in front of Lucia as he holding her pearl necklace while saying, "I'll take your pearl necklace first" Lucia stare at him in fear, 'Even though he looks just like Kaito but… He's completely different!... He's scary!' Tears began to shed in her eyes, 'Kaito… where's the real Kaito!?'

As one tear drop fell to her pearl a bright light shines which surprised Gaito and the Neo Shadows. And the fountain that was frozen by Lexia emitting the same light as the pearl returning to its original state causing Gaito to back off a bit covering his eyes from the light and the Neo Shadows were force to let go the Mermaid Princesses and go to Gaito's side.

Lexia was distracted by the light Attis use this chance by pointing his left hand at her firing a Dark Firaga spell at her but she reacted by countering a Dark Blizzaga spell causing the two spells to hit each other creating an explosion. She covered her eyes from soldering smoke from the explosion and as for Attis he used this chance to get away from her. He destroyed the Ice wall she created with a Dark Firaga spell then run towards the Mermaid Princesses.

He stand in front of the Mermaid Princesses with his weapon on hand staring at the Gaito and the Neo Shadows were still covering from the light, The Dark Lovers were closing their eyes from the light and still tied up by the spell he cast but knowing it will not last longer. But he was more focus on Lexia seeing the light didn't bother her as she walked up to where Gaito and the Neo Shadows.

From the light of the fountain the Sea Goddess Aqua Regina appeared which surprised everyone but Attis keep his guard up and didn't bother to look back even the Sea Goddess appeared he is just too focus on the enemy. The Mermaid Princesses stare at the Sea Goddess who appeared at the fountain she said, "I'm the sea Goddess, Aqua Regina! You're the North Pacific Mermaid Princess Lucia, right?" Lucia replied to the Goddess, "Yes, Aqua Regina-sama"

"Do you like the sea world?" The Sea Goddess asked then Lucia replied, "Yes" Then she asked another question, "What about the people above ground?" In response she just blushed as Aqua Regina smiled at her reaction and said, "Listen well, Mermaid Princesses Lucia, Hanon, and Rina….Long ago, when a clan planning to take over the sea threatened the peace… I sealed them away with my power. However ten years ago strange dark entities called Heartless manifest to this world start devouring the world to Darkness. It took me and the previous Mermaid Princesses to defeat the Heartless and cleansed the world from darkness but now, their dark forces are recovering! I have lost my power, and now need to be revived with the power of the seven Mermaid Princesses pearls!"

Aqua Regina turned his gaze towards Attis who is still keeping his guard up and staring at the enemy, "I asked him to protect you Mermaid Princesses so please trust him…." The Mermaid Princesses looked at Attis who still keeping an eye of the enemy as they returned their gaze to the Sea Goddess. Aqua Regina said to them, "In order to protect the world, the peace, and the one you love… Hurry and revived me, Mermaid Princesses"

The Sea Goddess vanished in front of them. "Aqua Regina-sama!" The Mermaid Princesses calling her name.

Gaito open his eyes and muttered, "She was the Goddess Aqua Regina… the one who rules the sea." The Dark Lovers are now free from the Magnera spell dash towards Gaito's side.

As Gaito standing tall with a smiled on his faced along with the Dark Lovers at his side and the Neo Shadows are in front of them. And Lexia just lean on one of the pillar crossing her arms as if she just observed how things will turn out.

The Mermaid Princesses are now ready to face their adversaries as for Attis he just stand by one of the nearby pillars and observed Lexia's actions knowing the Princesses can take care of themselves.

"I'll revive Aqua Regina for sure! For the world, everyone's peace, and to protect the people I love!" Lucia said confidently as she continued, "I swear it on my Pink Pearl!"

"Lucia" Hanon stared at Lucia's determination and Rina said to her, "It seems your coming-of-age ceremony is now over" Lucia said, "Let's go, you two!"

"Pink Pearl Voice!" "Aqua Pearl Voice!" "Green Pearl Voice!" As they transform to their respected Idol forms The Sea Goddess repapered and said, "In order to return peace to the Seven seas and to the whole world… I'll give you three a new power. A song of love and strength now accept this new song, and sing, Mermaid Princesses!" a bright pink light shine from her staff which Lucia caught the light and insert it to her e-pitch.

Lucia thought while closing her eyes, 'Please watch… Aqua Regina-sama… While we sing this new song you've given us with love!' Then together with Rina and Hanon, "Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!"

_Star Light!_

_Hikari wo motto atsumetara_

_Kono sekai wa kitto kawatteku_

_Mukai kaze no naka demo kurai umi no soko demo_

Gaito and the Dark Lovers are completely fazed by the Mermaid Princesses new song the Sea Goddess given to them and its affecting them. And also the Neo Shadows tried to approach the Mermaid Princesses but their movements are slow and started shake in pain.

_Kono te wo hanasanaide... zettai_

_Yume ga hajimaru Super Live!_

_Hikari to kage no SUTEEJI_

Lexia observed the scene seeing Gaito, the Dark Lovers, and the Heartless being affected by the song of the princesses it made her think, 'So it's true that they can defeat their foes by singing' Then she giggled, 'If I have a Heart this where I could laugh so hard' And then she stared at Attis who's observing her, 'Looks like the song isn't effective towards us Nobodies'

_Ai wo tsutaete Super Songs!_

_Yuuki wo kureru... ai no uta_

Gaito is completely affected by the song along with the Dark Lovers and the Neo Shadows in front of them dissolved into nothing. After seeing that it made him say, "So this is Aqua Regina's power!"

"Love Shower Pitch!" Lucia saying their catchphrase which startled Gaito and the Dark Lovers and then she together with Rina and Hanon, "How about an encore?"

Suddenly Lexia stand in front of Gaito looking at the Mermaid Princesses at the same time the three Princesses notice she wasn't faze by the song. She said to him, "It's wise for you to withdraw" Attis saw Lexia knowing she gonna let them escaped so he dash immediately.

Gaito noticed she wasn't faltered and affected by the song. As Attis run towards them and not letting Gaito escaped but Lexia thrusting her Shiva Rapier at him which caused him to block it with his Xatana at the same time she froze his feet to prevent him from moving.

Meanwhile the Panterassa fish crashed through the wall, and Gaito took that chance to get on the fish while saying to the Dark Lovers, "We'll withdraw for today!" He complies by Lexia's words knowing his in a disadvantage.

This attracted Lucia, Hanon, and Rina's attention and Gaito told them, "You three still have a long way to go… Before we meet again, you should take some lessons, Mermaid Princesses!" Then Attis shouted while raising his left hand pointing at the Panterassa, "I won let you escaped!"

As dark flames are about to come out but Lexia grab his left wrist with her right hand since her left hand is holding his weapon locking on with Attis' weapon. Then she froze his left hand preventing him for firing Dark Firaga spells while saying, "You should focus on your opponent"

Gaito gave one last look at the two battlers and left the castle, which made the Mermaid Princesses turn their attention to them which Lexia have the upper hand as she froze his foot and left hand which made the Mermaid Princesses worried and tried to help him by approaching him. He felt them coming towards them but he stopped them by shouting, "Don't come any closer!"

"I'm not gonna hurt them Xaitts" Lexia with a playful tone while still locking blades with him even his feet and left hand frozen but still put up a fight. Then she stares at the Mermaid Princesses with a sinister smile, "After all the Seven Mermaid Princesses are vital for Kingdom Hearts"

The three Mermaid Princesses were confused by that as Lucia said, "Kingdom Hearts?" Lexia return his gaze to Attis and said, "But first I need deal with you traitor!" She pushed his weapon out of the way with sheer strength alone then thrust her rapier quickly to his head.

Attis manage to react on time by dodging to the left but her rapier caught his hood pierce right through it instead of his head. The Mermaid Princesses are horrified seeing that as they thought he was pierce on the head but in reality it's only his hood.

Lexia swing her rapier upward to the right causing the hood she pierced to rip it off revealing nearly half of Attis' head. He retaliates by swinging his Xatana horizontally but Lexia jump back to avoid being cut in half. These give him a chance to free himself by igniting his left hand and feet with Dark flames as he free himself he materialized another Xatana on his left hand.

As Lexia stare at Attis which is now free from the ice and now wielding two swords it made her think, 'This is bad his gonna go all out since were in level playing field' As she thought about it and decide not to continue this any further so she dematerialized her weapon which surprised the Mermaid Princesses and Attis.

"Well this it for today. Since I can't afford to disappear hear since our plans are going in motion" Then she engulfed herself with the corridor of darkness and vanished before saying, "And Xaitts, you should think twice which side are you on that same goes for Xelon and Xolla as well give them the message if you see them"

With that she left Attis sigh and dematerialized his twin black swords. Then the Mermaid Princesses transformed back into their mermaid form and approaching him and notice nearly half of his head was exposed revealing his black hair. He felt them coming towards him but he stopped them by saying, "Sorry about the coming-of-age ceremony Pink Mermaid Princess"

As he walk forward and leave Lucia shouted, "Wait!" he stopped and didn't bother turning back since half of his face is exposed. Lucia asked, "Who was that Xaitts-san?!" Rina added, "It's time for you to tell us everything!" Hanon pleaded, "Please tell us we want to know what's going on!"

Attis pause a bit and sigh, "I'll tell the details tomorrow afternoon at Pearl Piari." The last part surprises the Mermaid Princesses which Rina shouted, "How did you know?!" He smirked and replied, "I have my sources." Then he thought, 'I already know from the start' and then he engulfed himself with the corridor of darkness just like Lexia did and left before saying, "Oh, By the way Pink Mermaid Princess you should pay more attention to certain human boy who you are familiar with."

That seemed to snap Lucia out of it and she swam off in a hurry shouting, "Kaito!" Lucia's shout confused Hanon and Rina as Hanon shouted, "Lucia, wait-! Dang, she's already gone. What was she talking about anyway?"

"She shouted Kaito's name, but I have no idea why. C'mon, we better check to see if Nikora-san and the others are alright." Rina told Hanon, and the two of them swam off after Lucia.

* * *

_Beachside – forest_

Meanwhile, Attis teleported in the forest using the corridor of darkness knowing if he teleported in the beach it will create unwanted attention he dematerialized his coat and head back to his apartment.

As he was heading out from the forest it made him think about what happen at the North Pacific Palace, 'That Gaito and the Water Demons are not much of a threat to me… But Lexia on the other hand is far more dangerous than them'

Attis got out of the forest and looked at the ocean and thought, 'Lexia rank XI of the Organization "The Piercing Maiden" A dangerous fencer with dominion over ice...and a personality to match_._' As he continue looking at the ocean and made him think, 'Looks like I know why the Organization sent her since she has the power over ice which she has the advantage…..'

Then Attis looked at the setting sun it made him sighed as he made his way back to his apartment.

* * *

The next day Attis was heading out from his Apartment since he has no work for the month and decided to spend the whole morning by exploring the whole land to cure his boredom.

As he walked along the way he saw Kaito in his school uniform heading to school. He knows the school that Kaito and the Mermaid Princesses attend its three blocks away from his apartment which it made him easy to keep an eye on them when he is not working.

"Hey! Kaito" Attis call out his name as Kaito turned around and said, "Oh, hey Attis"

As Attis walked up to Kaito and he noticed something holding in Kaito's left hand and it made him curious so he asked, "What is it your holding in you left hand?"

"Oh" Kaito open his left hand while saying, "You mean this…" holding his left hand is a key chain pink soft board which Attis recognized it and said, "I'm goanna take a guess that is for Lucia-san"

Kaito nod and said while looking at the key chain, "Well this is the only thing I can afford to since the last present that I should have given her got burned although her birthday was yesterday."

Attis assured him but putting his hand on his shoulder and said, "Well it's like they say it's better to be late than never. I'm sure Lucia-san would love it"

As Attis walk away to another direction and say while waving, "See you later Kaito, make sure you give it to Lucia-san!"

"Yeah, see you!" Kaito replied and continue walking to school.


	15. Chapter 15 Confrontation

Chapter 15 Confrontation

_Attis' apartment_

Attis is now lying on his couch thinking about what happen yesterday at the North Pacific Palace. He found out that the Organization send Lexia which make things more difficult and after that the Mermaid Princesses demanding some answers from him but he told them meet him at Pearl Piari this afternoon, which was why he waited the whole afternoon in his apartment although he did slept for three hours to past time since the Mermaid Princesses are attending school and waiting for it end.

As he looked at the time it is now 5:00pm. He gets up from the couch and did a little bit of stretching and said to himself while sighing, "Time for me to get ready and head to Pearl Piari…" He walked over to his room and putting on his black dress shirt, since he was already in his pair of black jeans and brown t-shirt. After getting his black coat and stared at the hood part which was rip off during his fight with Lexia and then he get his spare black coat which he was lucky that he brought two coats with him before leaving the Organization.

When he looked at his damaged black coat it made him think that after Pearl Piari he made some plans meeting the twins at twilight town. The reason behind this is that the twins should know about Lexia and also request them to take his damaged cloat to Clarabel since she 's specialized in any kinds of magic including magic items it made him think that she can repair his coat.

Attis walked from his apartment and went to the nearest vendor and looked at his surrounding if there are any people. Seeing no one is around he materialized his black coat teleport himself using the corridor of darkness.

* * *

_Pearl Piari_

Outside at Pearl Piari on the nearby tree a dark portal open which Attis come out with his black coat and his face hidden by his hood from the portal and observe the front road if there are any people. Seeing there are no people around this afternoon which make things easy for him to walk up and enter the front door if they are they gonna think of him in a negative way.

Attis is now on the front door. Upon opening it, he found Rina and Nikora waiting inside the front door, and made him thought, 'Looks like they anticipated my arrival….. Then again I did told them where to meet'

Attis is about to opened his mouth and say something but Rina beat him to it saying, "Finally you're here." The way Rina said it means she wants know everything which made Attis feel like being interrogated then Nikora added, "It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time Xaitts-san…..We'll escort you to the dining hall" And the way Nikora said, she feel uneasy seeing the one protected the Mermaid Princesses for the first time is still wearing his coat and his face is hooded.

The two girls led Attis to the dining hall, where Lucia, Hanon, Taki, and Hippo were waiting. Attis notice when all the eyes fell on him, and he took a seat opposite where everyone was sitting.

Rina and Nikora are now seating alongside where Lucia and the others. Attis stare at them seating at the opposite side which made him say, "Well this is an interesting scenario… I feel like am the interrogated and you're my interrogators….. I wonder what type of crime did I commit which I didn't commit at all."

That made Rina mad and said, "Stop joking around and start telling what you know!" Then Nikora added with a serious tone, "All we want is for you to answer some questions for us Xaitts-san." Attis just smiled under his hood at that and said, "If that's it, then I guess it's alright…"

That's when Lucia asked, "Who are you really Xaitts-san?" Attis replied, "I'm Xaitts former member of Organization XIII" Hanon puzzled and asked, "Organization XIII?"

Attis answered, "Organization XIII is a group which I used to be part of before I left and each members like Lexia are very strong and at the same time dangerous more dangerous than the enemy you called Gaito and his fan girls combine"

Everyone in the room was shocked at that learning that there are beings who are more dangerous than Gaito and the Dark Lovers and Attis assured them, "But don't worry only six of them remain and Lexia is one of the remaining members since the other four members were destroyed and other three which includes me left the Organization"

"Uh, I did hear when you fought that woman wearing the same cloaked as you she called you a traitor…" Lucia said. Attis nodded then Rina asked, "So Why did you left the Organization"

Attis pause for minutes as he closed his eyes and start recalling all the things that happen during his time in the Organization along the way which were unpleasant to remember. He open his eyes and said, "Sorry but that's private"

Everyone wanted to ask his reasons why he left the Organization, but they kept quiet due to the feeling that Attis didn't want to talk about it right now it's like they are picking up a sensitive subject were he doesn't want to talk about.

Rina asked, "How long have you known that we were Mermaid Princesses? You knew who we are in our human forms." Attis raised an eyebrow and said, "Well I have the ability to detect a person's Qi or lifeforce or their presence which I can identify who it belongs to as long I know the person and his Qi first." They were surprised about his ability to detect people then he added, "And also there is simplest way are those necklaces around your necks made it obvious to me that you three are the Pink, Aqua, and Green Mermaid Princesses."

The three Mermaid Princesses were surprised at that as Attis said, "You know, it kinda goes both ways you know, since I don't know your names either."

There was a moment of silence the three Princesses looked at each other and nodded knowing what to do before Rina said, "If that's the problem, then We don't mind telling our names It's-!" But Rina was cut off by Attis raising his hand and saying, "There's no need to tell me your names. All I'm here to do is to protect the Mermaid Princesses from Organization XIII."

Attis knew that he was being a bit cruel towards them and tried to remedy the situation by saying, "Look, In time I'll tell you who I am but for now it's better this way. " He notice their unsatisfied expression he smirk under his hood which no one sees and decided to lighten the mood by teasing Lucia by saying, "Makes you wonder Pink Mermaid Princess, that the Human Boy you love so much who fell in love in your Mermaid form didn't even realized you were the Mermaid in human form"

Lucia is shocked at that and panic while blushing, "How did you know that!" Attis laughed a bit and said, "I'm very observant; that's why I was able to figure it out pretty quickly. Then again you sometimes show your Mermaid form when your are alone with the Human Boy which made things more obvious to me" Attis stared at Lucia who still blushing and he assured her with a light manner tone, "Well in time the boy will figure out who you are and then it will be a happy ending for the both of you."

The words he said which cause Lucia to blush even more and Hanon shook her head and sigh while Rina with a serious expression looked at Attis and said, "Don't tell me you been spying on us!" He shook his head and replied, "No I didn't spy in your daily lives, but I only took a glimpse on it during when you were attack by the water demons and heartless" then in thought, 'In truth I always run in to you three by coincidence or luck.'

The three feeling at ease at that then Rina asked, "What are the Heartless exactly Xaitts-san?" Again, Attis had to think about it to remember before his replied, "They're beings of darkness. They prey on beings with hearts, like humans, and the hearts they steal turn into Heartless. You saw what they did to those humans back at the harbor, right?"

The three Mermaid Princesses remembered that incident as Attis also explain to them the two types of Heartless which are; the Purebloods and the Emblems as he went on, "The Heartless are especially attracted to strong hearts, like the Mermaid Princesses', though I had the feeling Organization XIII are sending heartless for the sake of Kingdom Hearts…."

That's when Hanon asked, "That person you were fighting she mentioned a Kingdom Hearts. What is that exactly?"

Attis was about to answer her question but, "Kingdom Hearts!?" Taki interrupted by shouting surprised by the word she heard from Hanon. Everyone notice Taki deep in thought That's when Nikora asked, "Is something wrong Taki-san?..."

Everyone looked towards Taki as she replied, "It's something that I came across back at the North Pacific Palace a long time ago. There's a hidden book about the history or the beginning of the world in the palace's library, and I found an interesting piece near the beginning of the book."

That's when Lucia said, "We have a library back at the palace?" That made everyone look at her oddly as Nikora said with annoyance, "Of course we have Lucia! You went there for your studies when you were younger! Please go on Taki-san."

Attis couldn't help but smirk under his hood, as Hanon and Rina looked amused too. Taki went on to say, "The book said that in the age of fairy tales, when the World was whole, Kingdom Hearts was believed to be the source of all light. Many came to desire the power of light contained within Kingdom Hearts, and they clashed together fighting over that power. But their negative feelings such as greed and jealousy introduced darkness into the World, and Kingdom Hearts disappeared within the darkness."

Everyone quite surprised about the story except Attis since he already knew about it and said, "Well there you have it that what Kingdom Hearts is….." Nikora says, "Yes, there is one thing I don't understand. What is the connection between the Mermaid Princesses and Kingdom Hearts? Lucia said that this Lexia person that the Mermaid Princesses are vital for Kingdom Hearts"

Attis couldn't help but feel slightly impressed by that deduction as he said, "Yes there is. Actually there's a story behind Kingdom Hearts, one that I know during my time in the Organization is that Kingdom Hearts is sealed in a special place. To be able to open the door to it, the seven Princesses of Hearts are required to gather together to open the door. I think it is said that the Princesses are pure of heart, meaning that they have no darkness within their hearts. That's the reason why they are able to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, and they are unable to become Heartless themselves."

"Now, how the story went is that the Princesses are scattered across different type of worlds" As Attis explained Taki interrupted by asking, "Different types of worlds…. Are you saying they are Worlds aside this World?" He just nodded in response which surprised everyone learning that they are different Worlds aside their own.

As Attis explain, "Each of the worlds along your world has affinity of light are called the Realm of Light. And there is also the Realm of Darkness is a realm made up of Darkness in people in every world and the home of Heartless. And also deep within that realm is where Kingdom Hearts is sealed." Everyone listen keenly as they learned about Kingdom Hearts being sealed in that realm.

"Organization XIII knew about the Princesses of other worlds but they have their eyes set on the Mermaid Princesses of this world since they also possess the qualities of the Princesses of Hearts and on top of that along with their pearls. And now they send Lexia around that seems very likely…" Attis thought about explaining to them about the other Kingdom Hearts that was created by the Organization but decided not to, thinking it's too early for them to know so decided to tell the short details only. For the moment while everyone else absorbed the information. Lucia, Hanon, and Rina were surprised that they were like the Princesses of Hearts, and everyone wondered if Aqua Regina knew all of this.

Then Rina asked, "That Lexia person I saw here helping Gaito by giving him a command over the Heartless. Are they allies?"At that everyone looked at Attis, and he replied,"… Most likely" In thought, 'But in truth his nothing but a pawn' He continued, "Remember this Lexia and other members of Organization XIII can command Heartless because they are tied to the darkness and each of them have a strong will, which are necessary to control them. That's all I can say for now, since I already mentioned that their target is the Mermaid Princesses and Kingdom Hearts."

All of them wanted to ask more, but he got up and said, "Well that's all I can tell you. Time to take my leave" Before he could walk away however, Lucia called out to him asking, "Wait! They're still things we want to know"

Attis raise his left hand in side ward and summoned the corridor of darkness which surprised everyone. As he about to enter the dark portal he said to them, "I come here to tell you the details but not the whole story." Then he looked at them, "I'll tell you everything when all of you Seven Mermaid Princesses are together. Right now I need to inform this to my two friends Xelon and Xolla about happened yesterday I'm sure there willing to help me to protect you Mermaid Princesses." Then looked back at the portal and said, "Since the Organization XIII is now involved I have a feeling this world is doomed to be devoured by the darkness"

Everyone in the room was shocked at that when he was about to leave but he stopped and said to them, "Oh, before I forget I'll give you one piece of advised. If you encounter Lexia or any other members of Organization XIII don't bother singing them a song just run or swim away." After saying that he enter the dark portal then vanish along with the portal.

When he was gone, Nikora said, "I know Aqua Regina-sama trusted him, but I have a feeling he's not telling us everything."

"He did say he only come here to tell the details but not the whole story" Taki said, which everyone understood, "I have a feeling there are so many mysteries that we don't know."

Then Rina said, "It's a good thing that his on our side" Everyone looked at her and notice her voice also carried a tinge of trepidation as she continue, "When we saw him tied the Dark Lovers using some sort of magic and then interrogate Gaito using forceful methods yesterday. He displays his killing intent and his emotionless attitude which make him dangerous enough to cause a shiver to run down my spine."

Lucia and Hanon remembered how he dealt Gaito and the Dark Lovers which make Hanon say, "I feel uneasy when he shows his emotionless attitude and when he took care of Gaito and the Dark Lovers I can tell he can kill them any time he wants." Then she says with uneasiness, "Makes me think that the Organization XIII guys that he left were the same as him which makes them dangerous enemies."

"But his already scary since his wearing his black coat!" Hippo said that who's been quite all the time when Attis was around feeling uneasy of his presence.

Then Lucia said, "But I wonder why he chooses to betray them and protect us instead. Is it Aqua Regina-sama requested him or something else?"

There was a moment of silence before Nikora said, "Okay everyone, let's get back to work! I need your help in sprucing up Pearl Piari." The three girls groaned a bit as Nikora sent them off to work.

* * *

_Twilight Town Clock Tower_

Attis teleported to twilight town removing his hood and headed immediately to the clock tower after buying his sea salt ice cream to meet with the twins.

Upon arriving at the top of the tower he saw the twins eating the same ice cream he bought while chatting. He calls them out, "Yo! Xelon, Xolla"

The twins turn their attention to the black haired teen who called their names. Xelon say, "Xaitts! You're finaly here" Xolla continued, "Me and Xellon have something to tell you."

Attis raise a brow and sat at the right side near Xelon while asking, "Okay, What is it?" The twins replied happily together, "We passed the SeeD exams!"

Seeing the twins happy that they passed the SeeD exams he smiled at their success, "That's great you two, Why not tell me more about how you passed the test" The twins looked each other and nodded as they agreed to tell the teen everything.

The three friends sitting together eating sea salt ice cream. Attis listen to the twins' story about how they passed the SeeD exam. The twins tell him about their mission which is involved Heartless infestation on an Island and their only duty is to evacuate the civilians from the Island.

To his surprised the one who accompany them is none other than the Headmaster of Balamb Garden Halit. They say his ten year old grandson is in that island visiting his friends. When the Heartless started invading the Island the Headmaster rush quickly knowing his grandson was in danger.

During their mission the twins are quite the force to reckon with using their magic abilities. Xelon using his magic to wipe out the heartless and while Xolla supporting his brother at the same time healing injured civilians. It made him think that the Headmaster want to see the twins abilities just like how he did to him and his sister.

When the mission was over they were praise by the civilians they rescued including the Headmaster for saving his grandson.

After that they were promoted as honorary SeeDs by the Headmaster himself. It made Attis think that it is good news on their part.

"Well that's the whole story how we got promoted as SeeDs!" Xelon said it with a smug on his face then Xolla asked, "So any news on part Xaitts?"

Attis scratch his head and sigh while saying, "Well since you have good news in your part of the story unfortunately I have bad news on my part of my story" He explain what happened yesterday and today which surprises the twins.

Xelon asked, "So the Organization decided to moved by sending Lexia" In response Attis nodded to his question then Xolla asked, "So you only told them only the short details" He replied while sighing, "Well I only told them the important details that's all so don't worry about it."

The twins knew why Attis didn't told the Mermaid Princesses about their past during their time in the Organization which is too private to them especially being Nobodies.

"Now that the Organization is involved looks like I need your help Xelon, Xolla" Attis asking the twins for help as the twins looked at each other and nodded then looked back at Attis as Xelon said, "Off course will help you! After all we didn't train ourselves to get stronger for nothing" Xolla continued after her brother, "But first we need to asked Headmaster Halit and also Clarabel-san and Allys-sama for permission first."

Attis smiled and said, "Alright! I'll wait hear tomorrow" Then he remember something important, "Oh! Before I forget" He raise his right hand materialized his damaged coat and hand it over to the twins, "Can you take this to Clarabel's. Since she is specialized on creating magic items so can you tell her to repair it for me?"

Xelon took the damage coat from him while saying, "Sure but she might asked something in return ones she finish repairing it" The teen just sigh while saying, "I'll worry about that later" After saying that the three friends continue eating their ice cream while watching the sunset.

* * *

_Gaito's castle_

Gaito was sitting on his throne, thinking to himself about the past events that happened back at the North Pacific Palace. Such as his first encounter with the Hooded Black Coat figure name Xaitts who manhandled him.

He still felt the pain of being punch, choke, and being slam to the mat which he still feel the pain on his back. Thinking that Xaitts will be his biggest and most dangerous obstacle and on top of that Aqua Regina suddenly appearing was a major setback, but what intrigued him most was Lexia, who help him by giving him a command over the Heartless and also she can fight Xaitts equally that not even himself or the dark lovers stood a chance against him. He wondered how he could get in touch with her when Maria rushed into the throne room.

Seeing her running up to him in a hurry, he wondered what was wrong and asked, "Oh, is something the matter Maria?"

"Gaito-sama, there's someone here to see you. It's that woman in black from the North Pacific Palace!" Maria told him, sounding concerned. Gaito raised an eyebrow at that and said, "Oh? That's interesting, send her in."

As if on cue, Lexia came in through the door, escorted by Izuru, Eriru, and Yuri, who looked a bit miffed at Lexia's presence. She still had her hood over her head, though her mouth was still visible. When they reached the foot of the steps, Lexia couldn't help and said, "Well this is a nice place you got here. Then again this what you expect from a Pantharassa Prince"

Gaito couldn't help but smirk at that as he said to the Dark Lovers, "Everyone leave the room. I want to talk to this person in private." The Dark Lovers seemed a bit hesitant at first, but they obeyed that order and left the throne room. Now that they were alone, Gaito turned his attention to Lexia and said, "Well then, what does someone who gave me control over the Heartless want with me?"

Lexia smiled and said, "First off, let me introduce myself to you Prince Gaito. I'm Lexia, rank IX of Organization XIII. I come here under the orders by the Superior that I should guide you on your quest…"

"Oh, this sounds interesting…why don't you tell me more." Gaito said with interest. As they talked, Sara was hiding behind a pillar overhearing everything, and thought, 'That person, I don't trust her…' However, she stayed to listen when Lexia explained to Gaito the relation between the Mermaid Princesses and Kingdom Hearts. She felt in her heart that there was definitely going to be trouble in the future.


End file.
